In this study, effects of coagulation bath temperature (CBT) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K15) concentration as a pore former hydrophilic additive on morphology and performance of asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were investigated. The membranes were prepared from a PES/ethanol/NMP system via phase inversion induced by immersion precipitation in a water coagulation bath. The morphology of prepared membranes was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurements, and mechanical property measurements. Permeation performance of the prepared membranes was studied by separation experiments using pure water and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution as feed. The obtained results indicate that addition of PVP in the casting solution enhances pure water permeation flux and BSA solution permeation flux while reducing protein rejection. Increasing CBT results in macrovoid formation in the membrane structure and increases the membrane permeability and decreases the protein rejection. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 50:885-893, 2010. FIG. 3. Cross-sectional SEM images of the PES membranes prepared with 3 wt% of PVP at different CBTs (5003 magnification): (a) 08C; (b) 258C; (c) 508C. FIG. 4. Magnified cross-sectional SEM images of the skin regions of the PES membranes prepared with 3 wt% of PVP at different CBTs (30003 magnification): (a) 08C; (b) 258C; (c) 508C. FIG. 5. SEM images from (a) top surface (50003 magnification) and (b) bottom surface (5003 magnification) of the PES membranes prepared using 3 wt% of PVP at 258C.

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