Abstract:
Ultrafiltration is a process which has been employed in many different industries to
separate micro-solutes from macromolecules and to polish waste water. The
hydrophilicity, porosity and mechanical strength of UF membrane are significant in
membrane separation process. Polyethersulfone is a hydrophobic polymer that is
prone to membrane fouling especially in protein separations. It is well known that
increasing the hydrophilicity of membrane will decrease the hydrophobicity of
membranes. Thus, the hybrid membrane between polyethersulfone (PES) and
tetraoctylphosphonium bromide (TOPBr) is selected as a way to improve the
hydrophilicity as well as thermal and mechanical properties of the native membrane.
The objectives of this study are to prepare and characterize PES/TOPBr
nanocomposite membrane at different modified nanoclay content by means of
functional groups, morphology, thermal, mechanical, water content, porosity, pure
water flux and protein separation test which best loading content of TOPBr is
identified. The membrane with the best loading content is then analyzed based on
protein separation affected by pH and ionic strength. fTIR and XRD results revealed
the formation of exfoliated clay mineral layers in PES matrix.
