Preparation of Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane Surface Coated with TiO<sub>2 </sub>Nanoparticles and Irradiated under UV Light

Abstract

This paper focuses on performance of polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membrane coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and irradiated with UV light. The flat sheet membrane was prepared via phase inversion method, with two types of membrane; TiO2 coated PES membrane and UV irradiated TiO2 coated PES membrane. TiO2 suspension with concentration of 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 wt.% were prepared and coated on the PES surface via dip coating. Membrane was immersed in all suspension for 15 minutes and 30 minutes. Then, prepared coated membranes were irradiated by 184 Watts UV lamp for 15 minutes. The performance of membranes was examined by permeation of humic acid. The morphology of membranes was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was revealed that the pure water flux and humic acid permeation of UV irradiated TiO2 coated membrane was higher than TiO2 coated membrane. It can be concluded that TiO2 coated with 0.03 wt.% of suspension, 30 minutes and 15 minutes UV irradiation with 184 Watt light were determined as the optimum conditions for preparation ultrafiltration PES membrane.