Preparation, characterization and performance study of poly(isobutylene- alt-maleic anhydride) [PIAM] and polysulfone [PSf] composite membranes before and after alkali treatment

Abstract

Recently, nanofiltration (NF) membranes have been drawing much attention in the field of filtration and the purification process of water/industrial effluents, because of their energy efficiency and low cost. Although reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are widely used in present desalination units, NF membranes are considered as "future membranes" for desalination, because of the low operating pressure. In the present paper, we hereby report the synthesis of a new composite NF membranes of poly(isobutylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PIAM) with polysulfone, using a diffusion-induced phase separation (DIPS) method. The anhydride groups were converted to acid group by alkaline treatment. Newly prepared composite membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies. The membranes were tested for salt rejection and water swelling. The resulted NF membranes exhibited significantly enhanced water permeability while retaining high salt rejection. The flux and rejection rate of the NF membrane to Na2SO4 (500 ppm) reached to 11.73 L/(m2 h) and 49% rejection under 1 MPa and also 70:30 composition of the membrane showed 54% water swelling; contact angle measurement, ion exchange capacity, and water uptake of the membrane were recorded. © 2011 American Chemical Society.