Synthesis of high-performance antifouling hybrid ultrafiltration membranes combining sulfonated polyethersulfone and titania nanotube for water purification

Abstract

Titania nanotubes (TNTs) were grafted by a facile surface covalent functionalization with 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt (PSA). A new sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) ultrafiltration membrane (UF) was then fabricated by loading various concentration of TNTs-g-PSPA using a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) approach. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) findings showed that the TNTs were successfully functionalized. By dint of the hydrophilic composition and homogeneous distribution of the tubular nanofiller in the membrane frameworks, the TNTs-g-PSPA membrane had a greater water flux and a narrower contact angle than a bare membrane Besides, with increased the loading concentration of the TNTs-g-PSPA, the pure water flux of the hybrid membranes boosted dramatically. The hybrid membrane’s pure water flux containing 5 wt% TNTs-−1, around 2-fold that of the pristine membrane. The −2 hg-PSPA hybrid was 402 L mfouling resistance of the fabricated membranes was explored using various foulants, comprising humic acid (HA), sodium alginate (SA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and natural organic matter (NOM) authentic solution. The hybrid membrane with 4 wt% TNTs-g- PSPA hybrid achieved a significant increase over the pristine membrane and was able to remove greater than 96% of NOM, without a rejection rate losing.