Comparison of cellulose acetate (CA) membrane and novel CA membranes containing surface modifying macromolecules to remove pharmaceutical and personal care product micropollutants from drinking water

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) enter the environment mainly through municipal wastewater effluents, agricultural run-off, pharmaceutical and related chemical industry discharges. The present study was conducted to remove PPCPs through nano-filtration (NF) membranes prepared with two different tailor-made polymeric additives. The first is a novel charged surface modifying macromolecule (CSMM) additive synthesized by reactive diisocyanate and dihydroxy naphthalene disulfonate. The second additive was a tailor made hydrophilic SMM (LSMM), which was manufactured incorporating poly(ethylene glycol) as end groups. Cellulose acetate (CA) membranes with and without 3 wt% CSMM or LSMM were prepared by the phase inversion technique. The membranes were characterized by static contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometer, and atomic force microscopy. The NF filtration studies were conducted at two different operating pressures (150 and 400 psig). They consisted of pure water flux tests, sodium chloride separation tests, and individual PPCP (ppm level carbamazepine, ibuprofen, and sulfamethazine) separation tests. The long term NF performance for the removal of ibuprofen was also conducted. Significant effect of CSMM blending on the separation performance of ibuprofen for long hours operation was observed.