Brush Polymers as Additive for Fabrication of Nanofiltration Membranesand their Application in Dye/Salt Removal

Polyethersulfone (PES) is a popular hydrophobic and fouling-prone membrane material. Mesoporoussilica (MS) was modified with hydrophilic polymer brushes using SI-ATRP to enhance PESmembranes. PES/MS-g-P(EPMA) and PES/MS-g-P(AEtMAC) composite membranes werefabricated using the phase inversion method. Increasing the additive concentration from 0.05 to 0.075wt.% improved the surface characteristics and hydrophilicity. The PES/MS-g-P(AEtMAC)membrane with 0.075 wt.% additive showed the highest water flux. All membranes exhibited >99%rejection for dyes, while the composite membranes showed moderate salt rejection. The compositemembranes demonstrate high selectivity for dyes/salts and promise for treating dye-containingwastewater.

Brush Polymers as Additive for Fabrication of Nanofiltration Membranesand their Application in Dye/Salt Removal Keywords:

Membrane , Nanofiltration , Phase inversion method , SI-ATRP , Nanocomposite , Dye/saltrejection