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In this study, an organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) hydrophilic clay was incorporated in PSf through non-solvent induced phase separation fabrication process to improve its properties. Afterwards, hand casting was done and the PSf/OMMT membranes produced were characterized to determine the effect of OMMT addition to its structural, mechanical and thermal properties, and hydrophilicity. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the surfaces showed a denser surface as the OMMT content increases but the pores on the images were not pronounced unlike the SEM images of the cross-section which depicted spherical macrovoids for 1.0% while wider macrovoids were observed for 3.0% and 5.0% OMMT. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposite with clay content up to 3.0% were improved. The glass transition temperatures of the PSf/OMMT nanocomposites were lower than the pure PSf while no significant difference was observed for the melting point. By statistical analysis, the addition and variation of the clay concentrations has no significant effect to the thermal properties. The hydrophilicity of the membranes improved with the increasing OMMT concentration, but was found to be insignificant. The overall data gathered showed that the clay addition had improved characteristics compared to the pure PSf membrane, which implies that PSf/OMMT nanocomposite could be likely used in filtration applications.

Polysulfone (PSf) is one of the commonly used polymeric membrane materials due to its excellent properties. One of the major concern however is that PSf membranes are mostly hydrophobic in nature. The presence of fillers like halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) into the polymer matrix can decrease this hydrophobicity and may also alter some of its important properties. This study focused on the fabrication of nanofibrous membranes by electrospinning method and characterization using SEM, UTM and contact angle goniometer to determine the effect of HNT concentration to the membrane’s surface morphology, mechanical properties and wettability. Results showed that samples subjected at the highest voltage produced finer fibers. The initial addition of HNTs also creates fiber strands with smaller diameters until beading in the fibers due to perturbation of the polymer jet caused by the increased viscosity of the solution and particle agglomeration was observed at higher concentrations. In terms of response to mechanical load, the tensile strength was higher upon HNT integration showing an effective transfer of stress to the dispersed phase despite the morphological imperfections. The contact angle results showed a decrease in hydrophobicity at the highest HNT concentration reflecting the water-loving character of the filler. The overall data gathered showed that the addition of nanoclay improved the properties of PSf matrix making them a suitable material for different filtration applications particularly in water treatment systems.

Polymeric membranes infused with clays have attracted researchers for it poses a great potential in water treatment applications. In this study, polysulfone (PSF) has been infused with organo-montmorillonite (O-MMT) clay to fabricate membranes through electrospinning and were subjected into different characterizations to find out the effect of adding the clay to the polymer.Four sampleswith different amounts of O-MMT have been fabricated (Pure PSF, 1% O-MMT, 3% O-MMT and 5% O-MMT). The fiber morphology, fiber diameter,surface chemical composition, hydrophobicity, and mechanical properties of these samples were studied. Preliminary investigationhas revealed that shallow pores and smaller fiber diameter were formed with increasing O-MMT concentration. Molecular interaction between the PSF and O-MMT was also revealed through the FT-IR analysis. With regards to contact angle, there are no significant differences between the measurements for each PSF/O-MMT blend. Improvements in the mechanical properties of the samples were also observed as the O-MMT concentration increases.