FOULING CONTROL STRATEGY OF UF-PES MEMBRANE USING THE SURFACE MODIFICATON TECHNIQUE

In this study, the ultrafiltration polyethersulfone (UF-PES) membrane was modified by using a simple dip coating method, utilizing myoglobin as the coating reagent. This modification is done to render the membrane surface with hydrophilic properties, subsequently made the membrane more invulnerable to fouling. The pH of the coating solution was fixed to pH 7.0 and the concentration of myoglobin was varied to 30, 50 and 70 mg/L. Based on these, membranes were coded as MPH7-30, MPH7-50 and MPH7-70. These membranes were subjected to surface characterization (FTIR, contact angle and surface charge) and morphological analysis (SEM and MWCO). For all categorization, native membrane was used as control. The hydraulic stability of the membrane was estimated from the pure water flux assessment. Finally, all membranes were subjected to fouling analysis to further confirm its fouling durability and the effect of membrane as well as solute properties (feed concentration) on the fouling attribute were evaluated.