Development of a nanocomposite ultrafiltration membrane based on polyphenylsulfone blended with graphene oxide.
In the present study, graphene oxide (GO) was incorporated as a nanoadditive into a polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to develop a PPSU/GO nanocomposite membrane with enhanced antifouling properties. A series of membranes containing different concentrations (0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%) of GO were fabricated via the phase inversion method, using N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) as the solvent, deionized water as the non-solvent, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a pore forming agent. The prepared nanocomposite membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and were also characterized with respect to contact angle, zeta potential and porosity, mean pore radius, tortuosity and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile testing were used to measure thermal and mechanical properties. The membrane performance was evaluated by volumetric flux and rejection of proteins, and antifouling properties. According to the results, the optimum addition of 0.5 wt% GO resulted in a membrane with an increased flux of 171 ± 3 Lm-2h-1with a MWCO of ~40 kDa. In addition, the GO incorporation efficiently inhibited the interaction between proteins and the membrane surface, thereby improving the fouling resistance ability by approximately 58 ± 3%. Also, the resulting membranes showed a significant improvement in mechanical and thermal properties.
King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box- 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Arun Kumar
AK
Shukla
King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box- 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Javed
J
Alam
King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box- 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.|Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mansour
M
Alhoshan
King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box- 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Lawrence Arockiasamy
LA
Dass
King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, P.O. Box- 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
M R
MR
Muthumareeswaran