Abstract
In this article, performance evaluation of PES membrane infused with chitosan and coated with polyamide layer for treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) is reported. PES/chitosan membranes were fabricated by varying chitosan concentration (0, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 wt%) using phase inversion method. PES/chitosan membranes were coated with polyamide (PA) via co-solvent assisted interfacial polymerization technique (CAIP). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle analysis show that chitosan and polyamide could enhance permeability without affecting rejection of the membrane. The permeability was improved with increasing chitosan content. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to quantitatively determine cations in the permeate and the sulphate ions were analysed using ultraviolet and visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometer. Pure water flux of PES/PA membrane was significantly improved from 56 to 93 l/m2.hr with 1 wt% chitosan addition. Cation rejection (90.4, 88.3, 89.3 and 75.7% for Mn2+,Fe2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+, respectively) was observed to be higher than anion rejection (56.33% for SO42−), when chitosan content was 0.75 wt%. These results indicate that the positively charged membranes under acidic condition had strong repulsive forces with the cations than attractions forces with anions. Polyethersulphone membrane modified with chitosan and coated with polyamide layer displayed potential for application in treatment of AMD.
Highlights
In this article, performance evaluation of PES membrane infused with chitosan and coated with polyamide layer for treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) is reported
It was used to determine the degree of deacetylation (DD) of the synthesised chitosan using Eqs (1) and (2)
PES membrane was modified by blending PES membrane with chitosan and coating with polyamide layer using co-solvent assisted interfacial polymerization
Summary
Performance evaluation of PES membrane infused with chitosan and coated with polyamide layer for treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) is reported. The chitosan modified membranes exhibited effective surface with smaller pore sizes than unmodified membranes[12] Another approach to improving antifouling property and surface characteristic of membranes is coating with hydrophilic polyamide layer. Hydrophilic polymers containing polyamide and amines have been reported to be extremely effective in enhancing hydrophilic nature and selective properties of polymeric membranes. Against this background, this study aimed to synthesis PES membrane blended with chitosan polymer and coated with polyamide layer for AMD treatment. The effect of chitosan addition and coating polyamide layer on surface morphology, hydrophilicity, permeability and selectivity of the membranes were investigated. Polyethersulphone provides polymer matrix while chitosan and polyamide were used as functional polymers
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