Author/Authors :
Bolong, N. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia - Faculty of Chemical Natural Resources Engineering - Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre, Malaysia , Bolong, N. Universiti Malaysia Sabah - Civil Engineering Programme, School of Engineering IT, Malaysia , Bolong, N. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. - Faculty of Civil Engineering - Dept of Environmental Engineering, Malaysia , IsmaiI, A. F. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia - Faculty of Chemical Natural Resources Engineering - Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre, Malaysia , Salim, M. R. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia - Faculty of Civil Engineering - Dept of Environmental Engineering, Malaysia , Rana, D. Univ. of Ottawa - Industrial Membrane Research Laboratory - Dept of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Canada , Matsuura, T. Univ. of Ottawa - Industrial Membrane Research Laboratory - Dept of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Canada
Abstract :
The objective of this work is to modify the polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber membranes by blending with Surface Modifying Macromolecules (SMMs) which were able to introduce charges at the membrane surface. To study the effects of SMMs, PES solutions with and without blending SMMs were spun by the dry–wet phase inversion method. The membranes were characterized by ionic solutes permeation and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). There was no significant difference in the membrane morphology between the membranes with and without SMM blending, indicating that the morphology of the base polymer remained relatively unchanged. However, based on Energy Dispersive X–ray (EDX) analysis, the presence of SMM’s elements at the surface of the SMM blended membranes was detected. The pure water permeation rates were found two times increased with the existence of SMMs, while rejection towards ionic solutes remained relatively unchanged
Keywords :
Charged–Surface Modifying Macromolecules (SMMs) , polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes , ionic separations
