The global water crisis growth has led to a tremendous increase in membrane technology research. Membranes are favored over many other technologies for water treatment because, in principle, they require no chemical additives, can be used isothermally at low temperatures and they do not require regeneration of spent media. Membranes that can reject salts, produce good permeate flux and require minimal cleaning are highly demanded. However, most of the synthesized membranes currently on the market have associated problems, such as membrane fouling, as well as high cost of synthesis, operation, and maintenance. There is a need for a more effective and sustainable approach for optimizing membrane performance in application to water treatment This research focuses on increasing the surface charge and hydrophilicity of polysulfone (PSf) membranes incorporating a sulfonate-functionalized poly-ether-ether-ketone (S-PEEK) into a PSf/N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (PSf/NMP) membrane. The sulfonation of the polyether-ether ketone provides a net increase in negative charge on the surface of the membrane that enables charge repulsion to take place, which can increase the rejection of ions from water bodies. In this project, the effect of applied potential on the performance of S-PEEK: PSf/NMP membrane was evaluated. Varying voltages of 1.5, 2.5 and 5V were applied to the membranes in the presence of various salts (sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and potassium chloride salts). It was found that both the permeability and the selectivity of the membranes were improved when voltage was applied. Characterization of the surface morphology of the as synthesized membrane was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), contact angle measurements, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS). The obtained results indicated that, S-PEEK was incorporated into the PSf/NMP membrane, the hydrophilicity of the membrane was increased, and under applied voltage, the S-PEEK: PSf/NMP membranes function as electrodialysis capable of removing contaminants from water bodies by charge repulsion of ions.

Liquid separations membranes made of functionalized poly-ether ether ketone blended with polysulfone

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.