{"id":13420,"date":"2026-09-11T10:08:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gremco.de\/?p=13420"},"modified":"2026-09-11T10:08:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:08:43","slug":"pet-support-braids-for-hollow-fiber-membranes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gremco.de\/en\/magazin\/pet-support-braids-for-hollow-fiber-membranes\/","title":{"rendered":"PET Support Braids for Hollow Fiber Membranes"},"content":{"rendered":"

PET Support Braids for PVDF Hollow Fiber Membranes: Structure, Function, and Manufacturing<\/h1>\n

Clean drinking water and the efficient treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater are among the most pressing technical challenges of our time. A key technology for both areas is the PVDF hollow fiber membrane<\/strong> \u2014 an ultra-fine, hollow polymer fiber used as a filtration element in water and wastewater plants worldwide. What many outside the industry don’t realise: these high-performance membranes need a mechanical backbone. Inside every fiber sits a braided or knitted PET support braid<\/strong> that makes the membrane operationally robust in the first place. This article explains how a hollow fiber membrane is built, where it is used, how it is manufactured from the PET support braid and a PVDF coating \u2014 and what really matters when specifying the substrate.<\/p>\n

What is a PVDF hollow fiber membrane and how does it work?<\/h2>\n

A hollow fiber membrane<\/strong> is essentially a very thin, hollow polymer fiber \u2014 comparable to a micro-spaghetti whose wall has pores so fine that only water passes through, while bacteria, viruses, suspended solids and sludge flocs are retained. A single membrane module contains several thousand of these fibers bundled in parallel, delivering 50 to 500 m\u00b2 of filter area in a fraction of the footprint of alternative filtration technologies.<\/p>\n

Functionally, a PVDF hollow fiber membrane consists of three layers:<\/p>\n

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Figure 1: Cross-section of a PVDF hollow fiber membrane. Three layers \u2014 PVDF separation layer on the outside, PET support braid in the middle, hollow lumen inside for the filtered permeate.<\/em><\/p>\n