Facile synthesis of novel tough and highly flexible biodegradable membranes for water microfiltration

Microporous polymeric membranes have found great applications in the area of water desalination and wastewater treatment, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and bone regeneration. The ability to create micro-size pores within a polymeric membrane allows for cavity formation that could form channels through which substances may permeate or percolate easily. The majority of these applications though, require micro-size porous membranes with small pore size and narrow pore-size distribution as to allow the control of the permeating substances or tissues. In the current work, an intricate and precise method was developed to generate micro-size porogen salt crystals with controlled micro-size distribution, which is then mixed with a specific biodegradable polymeric blend designed to offer both toughness and high flexibility for the production of microfiltration biodegradable membranes that can withstand the high pressures of large volumes of industrial wastewater undergoing filtration treat