Effects of membrane pore activation on microporous membrane emulsification process and emulsion droplet formation

The low percentage of pores at which droplets are formed results in lower production efficiency, which is one of the main issues hampering the application of microporous membrane emulsification on a large scale. The effect of microporous membrane pore activation on the droplet’s formation and emulsion performance was systemically investigated by changing both transmembrane pressures and membrane wettability during membrane emulsification. It indicated that the high transmembrane pressure increased the pore activation ratio (the percentage of pores at which droplets are formed) by the growing flux. These induced the enhancements of emulsification efficiency and the degradation of emulsion performance. Different wettability of membrane inflow and outflow influenced the pore activation speed (the speed which droplets are formed at pores). It indicated that the wettability of membrane outflow had a key effect on droplet formation and the high pore activation speed avoided splashing for high emulsion performance.