Polymer Bulletin, Vol.74, No.11, 4729-4743, 2017
Preparation, characterization and application of PS/SPEES-PES UF membranes for removal of ppm Cd2+ from aqueous media
Ultrafiltration membrane prepared from hydrophobic polymers like polysulfone or polyethersulfone (PES) suffers heavy membrane fouling during cross-flow filtration. Inclusion of hydrophilic polymer like SPEES in the membrane will increase the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface, this in turn would slow down the membrane fouling process and thus prolong the service life time of the polymeric membrane. This work involves the fabrication and characterization of nine KC-series ultrafiltration membranes containing various weight percent of sulfonated polymer (SPEES) via phase-inversion process; basic characteristics of these membranes like pure water flux, water content, surface charge density, molecular weight cut-off were determined. Application of KC-series UF membranes, containing various amounts of hydrophilic polymer [sulfonated polyetherethersulfone/polyethersulfone (SPEES/PES)], for the removal of Cd2+ in ppm concentrations from aqueous media via cross-flow filtration operation was investigated. Rejection of Cd2+ from the feed containing 50 ppm in Cd2+ and 100 ppm in polyacrylic acid sodium (225 kDa) salt achieved similar to 100%.