Synthesis and characterization of PSF/PES composite membranes for use in oily wastewater treatment

Abstract

Environmental sustainability requires development of environmentally benign and energy efficient technology for treatment and disposal of wastewater. Membrane technology has emerged as a highly viable method for water treatment throughout the years. However, their limited commercial application has prompted a lot of researchers to explore different approaches to modify the membranes to enhance their performance. Polymer blending is one of the modifying techniques currently being explored to develop materials with unique anticipated properties depending on the type of membrane needed. This technique has shown improvement in the quality of the membrane by enhancing the mechanical strength as well as the performance of the membrane. In this study, blended polysulfone (PSF) and polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were synthesized at different PSF:PES ratios (100%:0%, 0%:100%, 50%:50%, 80%:20%, 20%:80% and 25%:75%) using N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent via the phase inversion method. The quality and integrity of the membranes were checked via Scanning electron microscopy (for morphology); Thermogravimetric analysis (for thermal stability), Atomic force microscopy (for surface nature) and nanotensile measurement for mechanical strength. The flux, % rejection and porosity as the performance criteria of membranes showed a massive improvement in majority of the blended membranes than in pure PES and PSF membranes. AFM images indicated lower roughness in the pure PSF membrane as compared to the blended membranes. The tensile strength only improved on the 25%:75% membrane while the elasticity increased with an increase in PES concentration in the blended membranes. These results demonstrate the diversity of blending polymeric membranes to modify specific properties for desired function and highlight the possibility of more commercial application.

Effect of Silica Sodalite Functionalization and PVA Coating on Performance of Sodalite Infused PSF Membrane during Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage

“…An increase in the presence of functional groups has been shown to enhance structural stability of membranes [ 2 ]. The literature reveals that infusing functionalized nanoparticles into membranes increases their hydrophilicity because the functionalized nanoparticles tend to travel towards the surface of the membrane, thus inducing the hydrophilic nature of the surface [ 41 ]. This could be because of modification of nanoparticles that influence the charge of the membrane, smooth the surface, and enhance the hydrophilicity of the membrane.…”

Effect of Loading and Functionalization of Carbon Nanotube on the Performance of Blended Polysulfone/Polyethersulfone Membrane during Treatment of Wastewater Containing Phenol and Benzene

“…A previous study was conducted where PSF/PES blended membranes were prepared at different compositions (0% PSF:100% PES, 100% PSF:0% PES, 20% PSF:80% PES, 25% PSF:75% PES, 50% PSF:50% PES and 80% PSF:20% PES), characterized and evaluated for the treatment of wastewater containing benzene and phenol. From these characterization and separation performance results, the best performing membrane (25% PSF:75% PES) was selected and further modified in this study [8]. In this study, five blended 25% PSF:75% PES membranes were prepared.…”

Synthesis and characterization of clay-based ultrafiltration membranes supported on natural zeolite for removal of heavy metals from wastewater

“…Preparation of composite ceramic membranes needs the use of powder having a pore size range commonly below the interval of membrane pore size (Rastgar et al,2017). Nevertheless, the membrane pore size can be reduced via surface modification of the membrane by crosslink age using various polymers (Rameeetse et al, 2019;Mathaba and Daramola,2019); embedding nanoparticles within the polymer matrix (Daramola et al,2015) or coating with nanoparticles as the active layer (Kasemset et al,2017;Wan et al,2017). In this context, a large number of research works has been devoted to the development of new types of inorganic membranes from low cost materials (Aloulou et al,2018) and (Tahri et al,2013).…”