Antifouling efficiency and high-flux ultrafiltration membrane comprising sulfonated poly (ether sulfone) and TNTs-g-PSPA nanofiller

Background: Climate change, population growth, water pollution, and mismanagement of water resources all contribute to freshwater depletion. To cleanse dirty water, efficient and long-lasting technology is required. Membrane technologies are being developed to provide a cost- effective and efficient water treatment option to meet the ever-increasing demand for high quality- water.
Methods: A facile method was performed to develop outstanding hydrophilicity, fouling resistance, high rejection rate and water flux ultrafiltration (UF) membrane. The membranes were made using a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) approach by combination of sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) and Titania nanotubes (TNTs) modified with sulfopropyl methacrylate (TNTs-g-PSPA) as a nanofiller. The fouling resis- tance of the fabricated membranes was explored using various foulants, comprising humic acid (HA), sodium alginate (SA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and natural organic matter (NOM) solution.
Significant findings: The results revealed that the membranes surface charge concentration, porosity, and tex- tural properties were improved. The hybrid membrane’s pure water flux containing 5 wt% TNTs-g-PSPA hybrid was 402 L m!2 h!1, around 2-fold that of the pristine membrane. The fashioned membrane with 4 wt% TNTs-g-PSPA removed greater than 98% of NOM, without a rejection rate loss.