Treatment of dyed saline water using developed polyethersulfone/ cellulose acetate nanofiltration blend membranes

Abstract

Nanofiltration membranes of polyethersulfone/cellulose acetate (PES/CA) were fabricated by casting technique and characterized. Cationic dye removal (methylene blue dye) was used in the membrane performance test with the solution of pH 5.5, initial dye concentration of 100 mg/L and NaCl salt concentration of 2,000 mg/L. The membrane performance was improved by annealing of the blend membrane at 60°C (PES/CAt), where the dye removal reached 99.8% and salt rejection reached 99% with permeate flux of 22 L/m2 h. This study demonstrated that annealed blend PES/ CAt membrane has an enormous applicable potential in dye removal from aqueous saline solutions.