Application of Micellar-Enhanced Ultrafiltration for the Removal of Reactive Blue 19 from Aqueous Media

Abstract

The present study reports the surfactant-based separation of a reactive dye (reactive blue 19 (RB-19), from aqueous solution containing two cationic surfactants (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and ethyl hexadecyldimethyl ammonium bromide (EHAB)). Three membranes of different pore size (5000, 10,000, and 30,000 molecular weight cutoff (MWCO)) were used for the determination of rejection coefficient and permeate flux of the solution at 1.5 bar transmembrane pressure (TMP). The membrane of 10,000 MWCO was found to be the most suitable in regard to retaining the dye molecules incorporated in the micelles.