Synthesis and characterizations of new negatively charged organic–inorganic hybrid materials: Part II. Membrane preparation and characterizations

A series of organic–inorganic hybrid membranes were prepared on microporous alumina substrates through dip-coating with the sol–gel solution of negatively charged polymer precursors PEO-[Si(OEt)3]2SO3H (preparation of which discussed in [C.M. Wu, T.W. Xu, W.H. Yang, Synthesis and characterizations of new negatively charged organic–inorganic hybrid materials: effect of molecular weight of sol–gel precursor, J. Solid State Chem. 177 (4–5) (2004) 1660–1666]). Sulfonation degree of PEO-[Si(OEt)3]2SO3H was varied and its effect on the thermal stability, electrical properties and morphology of the membranes were discussed. Results showed that as the sulfonation degree of PEO-[Si(OEt)3]2SO3H increased, Td of the membranes decreased from 265 to 233 °C, while cation exchange capacity increased from 0.4 to 1.0 mmol/g. Water flux values (0.04–0.51 × 10−5 L/(m2 Pa h)) and pore diameter (0.001–0.004 μm) of the membranes generally increased with the sulfonation degree of PEO-[Si(OEt)3]2SO3H. All membranes showed negative streaming potential (SP) even at very low pH values. Thus, negatively charged nanofiltration membranes with relatively high thermal stability and varying electrical properties were successfully obtained.