The effect of anionic, non-ionic and cationic surfactants on morphology and performance of polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes for milk concentration

In this study, the effects of three surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as anionic surfactant, cetyle three methyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as cationic surfactant and Triton X-100 as non-ionic surfactant on structure and performance of polyethersulfone membranes prepared from PES/PVP/DMAC system via immersion precipitation have been investigated. The mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) (30/70 vol.%) was used as gelation media. The morphology and performance of the prepared membranes were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and separation experiments using pure water and milk as feed. The obtained results indicate that the small addition of surfactants in the casting solution increases the porosity of the membrane support layer, enhances pure water flux and milk water permeation.