Antifouling and Water Flux Enhancement in Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes by Incorporating Water-Soluble Cationic Polymer of Poly [2-(Dimethyl amino) ethyl Methacrylate]

Abstract

Novel ultrafiltration (UF) polymer membranes were prepared to enhance the antifouling features and filtration performance. Several ultrafiltration polymer membranes were prepared by incorporating different concentrations of water-soluble cationic poly [2-(dimethyl amino) ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) into a homogenous casting solution of polyethersulfone (PES). After adding PDMAEMA, the effects on morphology, hydrophilicity, thermal stability, mechanical strength, antifouling characteristics, and filtration performance of these altered blended membranes were investigated. It was observed that increasing the quantity of PDMAEMA in PES membranes in turn enhanced surface energy, hydrophilicity, and porosity of the membranes. These new modified PES membranes, after the addition of PDMAEMA, showed better filtration performance by having increased water flux and a higher flux recovery ratio (FRR%) when compared with neat PES membranes. For the PES/PDMAEMA membrane, pure water flux with 3.0 wt.% PDMAEMA and 0.2 MPa pressure was observed as (330.39 L·m−2·h−1), which is much higher than that of the neat PES membrane with the value of (163.158 L·m−2·h−1) under the same conditions. Furthermore, the inclusion of PDMAEMA enhanced the antifouling capabilities of PES membranes. The total fouling ratio (TFR) of the fabricated PES/PDMAEMA membranes with 3.0 wt.% PDMAEMA at 0.2 MPa applied pressure was 36 percent, compared to 64.9 percent for PES membranes.

Ultrafiltration polyanionic poly (3‐sulfopropyl methacrylate) membranes with enhanced antifouling and water flux

“…The assessment of membrane contamination was conducted by considering three parameters: total fouling (Rt), reversible fouling (Rr), and irreversible fouling (Rirr), as depicted in Figure8B. The results indicate that the PES membranes, when modified with PSPMA, exhibited decreased Rr and Rirr values in comparison to the unmodified PES membranes 58. The highest Rt value was recorded for the pristine Polyethersulfone membrane (MVS0), indicating its higher susceptibility to fouling.…”