Effect of Polyaniline on Surface Properties of Polysulfone Membrane

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of Polyaniline (PANI) on surface properties of Polysulfone (PSf) membrane. The membrane was prepared via phase inversion method at high concentration of PANI (0-15 wt.%). The membrane was characterized in term of morphology, surface roughness and porosity. The result showed that by mixing PANI in PSf membrane, the surface roughness increased up to 84%. This result indicate that addition of PANI improve surface hydrophilicity of membrane. Furthermore, the membrane porosity was enhanced in the presence of PANI. This result is in line with morphology properties which found that PANI act as incompatible filter in PSf matrix which enhanced membrane porosity and surface roughness. Although PANI is incompatible but based on membrane surface hydrophilicity, PANI has potential to be used as an additive in membrane fabrication.