Development of ultrafiltration membranes from acrylonitrile co-polymers

Abstract

Hydrophobic polymer surfaces show higher tendency to protein adsorption and bacteria attachment, thus hydrophobic polymeric membranes foul rapidly in water purification operations. A change in membrane surface properties can reduce fouling; this may be accomplished by increasing the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface, and by using a membrane with smaller pore size. The ultrafiltration membranes were prepared via phase inversion process in our laboratory. Negatively charged hydrophilic ultrafiltration membranes were prepared from acrylonitrile-vinyl acetate (CP16)/Acrylonitrile-vinyl acetate-sodium p-sulfophenyl methallyl ether (CP24). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the asymmetric structure of these membranes. The roughness of the surface was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The basic characteristics of these membranes like water permeability, water content and membrane selectivity were also measured.