Polymer membranes have been widely used in various industries due to their many advantages. The ability of the membrane to control the permeability of various components of a mixture from it is a key feature of the membrane, which is the basis of the separation processes. The most important factors affecting membrane performance are membrane porosity properties, including total porosity, average pore size, and largest pore size. In this project, first, it is attempted to produce membranes with different porosity properties based on non-soluble / solvent / polymeric triangular behavior and with knowledge of different mechanisms of fuzzy separation including nucleation and growth and spinoidal fuzzy separation. Then, using X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT), three-dimensional realistic images will be obtained from the membrane structure. In the next step, by analyzing the images, the dimensions and distribution of the pore size as well as the overall porosity of the membrane will be measured. The results are compared with the results obtained using different laboratory methods and the possibility of using µCT in measuring the porosity of polymer membranes as well as its strengths and weaknesses is evaluated. In the end, the residual rate of clay particles with a mean diameter of 1.59 microns is calculated by membranes produced against water dispersion and clay with different concentrations. Based on the results obtained, at a constant concentration of polymer solution, when the membrane is formed using a Vapor-Fuzzy Fusion Separation (VIPS) method, the relative humidity of the environment before dipping the soluble solution in the coagulation bath is higher. The size of the pores formed in the membrane is larger. Also, at a constant concentration of polymer solution, when the membrane is formed using the VIPS method, the longer the membrane placement is in relative humidity, the smaller the pore size of the membrane will be. The results showed that the membranes produced by the VIPS method have an abnormal structure. It was also found that micro-computed tomography is a suitable and accurate method for analyzing the three-dimensional structure of pores and the local and total porosity of polymer membranes.
