Preparation of low-fouling polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes by incorporating high-molecular-weight chitosan with the help of a surfactant

Abstract

Increasing the resistance of polyethersulfone ultrafiltration (PES UF) membrane to fouling remains a challenging endeavor when developing UF membrane. This paper concerns the incorporation of chitosan into PES UF membrane to produce low-fouling PES UF membrane. The membranes were produced by means of phase inversion with chitosan as an additive. In order to increase the content of chitosan in PES solution, Tween 80 surfactant was incorporated. The membranes were characterized in terms of pure water permeability, contact angle, and surface morphology. The membrane performance was evaluated by static adsorption and filtration experiments. The results showed that the surfactant could significantly decrease the viscosity of chitosan solution; consequently, the chitosan content of the membrane also increased. The presence of chitosan increased both the membrane water permeability and hydrophilicity of PES UF membranes. Furthermore, these membranes showed higher resistance to both adsorptive and ultrafiltration fouling, and their ability to repel protein was slightly higher than that of chitosan-free membranes.

Keywords

• Ultrafiltration
• Phase inversion method
• Chitosan
• Tween 80
• Low fouling membrane