Microporous hollow fiber membranes formed from blends of isotactic and atactic polypropylene

A novel process to prepare microporous hollow fiber membranes is proposed. Fibers of blends of isotactic polypropylene (i-PP) and atactic polypropylene (a-PP) spun under high take-up draw ratio are found to be elastic. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) observation indicates that fibers have row-nucleated lamella structure normal to the fiber direction. Microporous polypropylene hollow fiber membranes were obtained from the fibers by extraction of atactic polypropylene and cool-stretching. The membranes have smaller pore size and higher permeability than those of traditional stretch method. The mechanism of micropore formation is discussed.