Tensile and Surface Mechanical Properties of Polyethersulphone (PES) and Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membranes

Abstract Mechanical properties of polymer membranes (strength, hardness and elasticity) are very important parameters for the application performance, e.g. water purification. We study the tensile and surface mechanical properties of hollow fiber and flat sheets mat membranes based on PES and PVDF polymers. Tensile test, nanoindentation and atom force microscopy are used for characterization at macro and nanoscale. Mechanical properties are correlated with pore structure of membranes. The reinforced PVDF HF hollow fiber membranes show 30-fold higher stiffness and 3-fold higher hardness compared to non-reinforced PES HF. Surface mechanical properties of flat sheet membranes are strongly improved by decreasing the pore size. The smoothest surface with 100–200 nm roughness has the best surface mechanical performance obtained by nanoindentation.