Polysulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane for Textile Industry Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane has become an alternative technology in water and wastewater treatment due to its low energy requirement. However, the application of conventional UF membrane is limited by its low rejection to soluble compounds, such as dyes in textile wastewater. In this work, a UF membrane was fabricated by blending polysulfone (PSf) with polyethylene glycol (PEG400), acetone, and ZnO in DMAc. The resulting membranes were utilized for textile wastewater treatment and then investigated in flux and naphthol rejection. The UF membrane that prepared by blending 20 wt.% PSf with 20 wt.% PEG400 and 1 wt.% ZnO resulted in better performance compared to 16 and 18 wt.% of PSf. The pure water flux was 60 L.m-1 .h-1. Reversible fouling on the membrane surface could be eliminated by a simple method (such as flushing), and therefore, the FRR value became higher (71%). The rejection of Naphthol was low at 45%.