Enhancement of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane performance by modification with rice husk nanosilica for removal of organic matter in water S Mulyati, M A Armando, H Mawardi et al.Column performance of carbon nanotube packed bed for methylene blue and orange red dye removal from waste water G K Gill, N M Mubarak, S Nizamuddin et al.Dyes removal from water using low cost absorbents S Giraldo, A P Ramirez, M Ulloa et al. Polyethersulfone -barium chloride blend ultrafiltration membranes for dye removal studies Rambabu K, Srivatsan N, and Anand V P Gurumoorthy Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Civil and Chemical Engineering, Centre for BioMaterials , Cellular and Molecular Theranautics, VIT University, Vellore -632014, Tamil Nadu, India.Email: rambabu.k@vit.ac.in Abstract.A series of Polyethersulfone (PES) -barium chloride (BaCl 2 ) blend ultra filtration membrane was developed by varying the BaCl 2 concentration in the dope solution. Prepared membranes were subjected to membrane characterization and their performance was studied through dye rejection tests. Morphological studies through SEM and AFM showed that the composite membranes exhibited differences in morphologies, porosities and properties due to the BaCl 2 addition as compared with pristine PES membrane. Addition of the inorganic modifier enhanced the hydrophilicity and water permeability of the blend membrane system. Polymer enhanced ultrafiltration of dye solutions showed that the proposed blend system had better performance in terms of flux and rejection efficiency than the pure polymer membrane. The performance of the 2 wt% BaCl 2 blend membrane was more promising for application to real time dye wastewater studies.