Surface modification of polypropylene membrane by acrylate epoxidized soybean oil to be used in water treatment

Abstract

AbstractSurface modification of a microporous polypropylene (PP) membrane was performed by graft polymerization of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) using UV radiation. This is a simple, environmentally friendly, and low cost method. The factors affecting the grafting degree such as monomer concentration and reaction time were studied. The morphological and microstructure changes of the membrane were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and information regarding elemental composition was obtained by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS). Surface functionalization was studied by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thermal properties were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The hydrophilicity increment was confirmed by pure water contact angle and swelling measurements. The filtration capability of the modified membrane was analyzed by determining color, turbidity, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from a residual raw water. The results indicated that the contact angle of pure water on the grafted membrane decreased from 90° to 57°. The modified membrane shows filtration capability by removing color in 52% and reducing 95% of turbidity. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012