Preparation and characterization of high flux cellulose acetate/hydroxyapatite composite ultrafiltration membranes for water treatment

Abstract

In this study, we prepared cellulose acetate/hydroxyapatite (CA/HA) composite ultrafiltration membranes for water treatment. The organic-inorganic composite ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by doping different contents of HA nanoparticles into the CA by phase inversion method. The structure and morphology of the HA nanoparticles and membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier infrared spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to describe thermal characteristics. The contact angle value and wettability test were used to determine the hydrophilicity of the polymer membrane. In addition, fluxes and rejection rates were tested at different pollutant concentrations and different pH values. The pore size and porosity gradually increased and the hydrophilicity and thermal stability of membrane were improved with the deposited HA content. With the addition of 5 wt% HA, the tensile strength of the membrane reached a maximum value of 2.80 MPa. The fluxes of pure water, CR, MB and BSA were 152.23, 111.25, 125.69 and 87.47 L/(m2·h), while the rejection rates of CR, MB and BSA were 99.99 %, 92.91 % and 99.99 %, respectively. In addition, the rejection decreased with increasing dye concentration and showed higher rejection under alkaline conditions. On the whole, the produced CA/HA composite membranes exhibited significantly higher permeability and rejection rates, offering them a lot of potential for water treatment applications.