Fabrication and evaluation of the nanoclays embedded PVC membranes

Membrane technology is widely accepted as a means of producing various qualities of water from surface water, well water, brackish water and seawater. Most of polymeric membranes are hydrophobic or less hydrophilic, therefore these membranes undergo fouling by proteins and other natural organic matters during water treatment. In this study, a comparison between neat polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and PVC/Mt nanocomposite membrane was investigated. All membranes were prepared via Non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Membranes were characterized by using water contact angle measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The results show that the hydrophilicity of the PVC/Mt membranes were improved and decreased from 82° to 66° in the presence of 1.0 wt.% Mt. Moreover, their performances were evaluated with pure water flux (PWF). It was observed that the pure water flux was increased initially (up to 1350.88 Lm-2 h-1) and then decreased (556.61 Lm-2 h-1) with increasing percentages of nanoclays.

Keywords:

PVC membrane , Nanoclay , Montmorillonite , Hydrophilicity