Improvement of the Characteristic of Polyethersulfone Membrane by Blending With Brij of Different Molecular Weights

Abstract

In the fabrication of membrane via common phase inversion technique, the morphology and other basic characteristics of the resulted membrane are greatly influenced by the composition of polymer and solvent. The presence of the second chemical in the polymer solution might also change the surface property of the membrane. In this work, PES membrane in flat-sheet form is fabricated by means of NIPS method by blending three kinds of Brij with different molecular weights (Brij 58, 98, and 35) into polymer solution to enhance the hydrophilicity degree of the membrane. The effect of the additive on the hydrophilic property of the membrane is studied through the measurement of surface water contact angle. In addition, the filtration and separation performances of the membranes are examined by determining water flux and rejection in filtration experiment against humic acid. It is concluded that the optimum pure water permeability can be required by using Brij with higher molecular weight and lower the concentration. The addition of additive showed membrane modified with Brij35 has higher hydrophilicity property.