Separation of bovine serum albumin and humic acid contaminants from aqueous stream using tailored poly (amide imide) ultrafiltration membranes

Abstract

An attempt of studying the effects of the Pluronic F127 (triblock-co-polymer) and pore forming PEG 600 [poly (ethylene glycol) of average molecular weight 600 Da] additives in enhancing the hydrophilicity and antifouling properties of poly (amide imide) (PAI) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes was made. PAI membranes were fabricated by the addition of optimized amount of 5 wt.% of Pluronic F127 and PEG 600 additives individually via phase inversion technique and characterized in terms of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle (CA),work of adhesion (ωA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), pure water flux (PWF), hydraulic resistance (Rm) and percent water content (%WC). Percent solute rejection (%SR) and permeate flux were measured using BSA (bovine serum albumin) and HA (humic acid) as modal fouling agents. Antifouling capacity of the membranes were studied by the experiments such as flux recovery ratio (FRR), reversible fouling (Rr) and irreversible fouling (Rir). The results obtained from the above mentioned characterizations revealed that the PAI/Pluronic F127 membrane exhibits better performance than that of PAI/PEG 600 membrane due to the dual performance of Pluronic F127 as pore former as well as hydrophilic surface modifier causes superior enhancement in the membrane hydrophilicity. Moreover, the strong interactions between the PAI and PEG 600, limits the performance of PAI/PEG 600 membrane. Hence, Pluronic F127 has a greater influence in effectively modifying the PAI membrane than PEG 600.