Membrane Performance: TiO2 Nanoparticles Coated on Polysulfone (PSf) Ultrafiltration Membrane Surfaces

Abstract

This study focuses on the modification polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration membrane surfaces via coated and irradiated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles with UV lights respectively. Basically, the flat sheet membrane was prepared using phase inversion technique with three conditions: (i) uncoated PSf membrane, (ii) coated PSf membrane with TiO2 and (iii) PSf membrane coated with TiO2 irradiated to UV. The coating process was carried out using dipping method into TiO2 nanoparticles suspension at different concentrations (0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 wt.%). Membrane was immersed in all suspension for 15 and 30 minutes. Then, coated membranes were exposured under 184 Watts UV lamp at two different durations, 15 and 30 minutes. The performance of membranes was evaluated in terms of pure water flux (PWF) and humic acid (HA) rejection. The morphology of membranes was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Analysis of the result revealed that 15 minutes immersion of membrane in TiO2 suspension showed a better performance in term permeation and rejection of compared to 30 min immersion. This is due to the pore plugging as time of immersion increased. Therefore, the coated membranes with 0.03 wt.% of TiO2 nanoparticles at 15 minutes immersion and 15 minutes exposure of UV light irradiation were determined as an ideal performance of rejection and permeation compared to the other.