Self-assembled tri-block terpolymer blend membranes reinforced with poly(methyl methacrylate)-coated gold nanoparticles obtained through phase inversion technique

Abstract

The blend membranes of polystyrene-block-polyisoprene-block-polystyrene (SIS) and polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polycaprolactone (E-EG-CL) were designed using phase inversion technique. The poly(methyl methacrylate) coated gold nanoparticles (PMMA-AuNPs) have size around 40-50 nm. The honey comb shaped nanopores were uniformly dispersed in SIS/E-EG-CL/PMMA-AuNPs blend membranes.There was 16 % increase in tensile strength and 33 % in tensile modulus of SIS/E-EG-CL/PMMA-AuNPs 1 relative to neat membrane. With 1 wt. % nano-particles, membrane showed higher water flux of 59.2 mLcm −2 min −1 and salt rejection ratio of 25.4 %, while SIS/E-EG-CL membrane without PMMA-AuNPs had a lower flux (43.8 mLcm −2 min −1 ) and salt rejection (18.5 %).