Effects of incorporating ZnO on characteristic, performance, and antifouling potential of PSf membrane for PRW treatment

Abstract

Numerous researchers around the world have developed the separation process by membrane technology. The application of membrane-based separation in industrial activity is limited due to its low production capacity due to the fouling formation on the surface of the membrane. The incorporating of nanomaterial has been developed to enhance membrane performance and productivity. In this study, we introduced the zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles to process the petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW). The SEM result shows the presence of ZnO nanoparticles on the surface of the polysulfone (PSf) membrane, and it increased the porosity of the membrane. The addition of ZnO nanoparticles has been successfully increasing the hydrophilicity, increase the water uptake ability, and also increase the tensile strength and elongation break of the modified membrane. The investigation of the performance of the membranes shows that incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into the membrane has resulted in the higher of permeate flux and pollutant removal efficiency compared to the pristine membrane. The quantitative analysis of the fouling behavior by the model shows the addition of ZnO nanoparticles has been successfully reduced the resistances during filtration that mean the decreasing of the fouling tendency on the surface of the membrane. These also proved by the antifouling potential analysis at the addition of 1 %-wt ZnO nanoparticle decreased up to 39% of total resistance and increased the flux recovery ratio up to 72%.