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Improved Performance of Ultrafiltration Membranes after Surface Modification

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Abstract—

Commercial polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was modified and evaluated for the removal of metal ions from an aqueous solution. Modifications were carried out by a radical polymerization technique, using acrylic acid as monomer. The grafting polymerization on the membrane was developed in an aqueous medium at 60°C. Two molar initiator/monomer (3 and 7%) ratios were used to study PES-grafted-polyaceylic acid membranes. Both unmodified and modified membranes were analyzed by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to look into their morphologies. In addition, contact angle measurements were used for membrane hydrophilicity. The ATR-FTIR spectra, SEM and AFM images confirmed that the modification on the PES membrane surface was carried out by grafting polymer of acrylic acid monomers. The results obtained show that acrylic acid may be used for the preparation of a selective membrane functionalized with carboxylic groups. Water permeability was evaluated by varying the feed pressures (4–10 bars). The flux water of unmodified membrane decreased from 10 to 6 L/h m2 bar for modified membranes. The rejections of sodium chloride, copper chloride, and aluminum chloride were also studied for each sample. Among the metal ions tested, thevmaximum removal was reported for aluminium for grafted membrane at 7% ratio. The rejection values for grafted membranes (3 and 7%) were higher than those obtained for unmodified membranes and increased with the grafting rate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, 1171, Sfax, Tunisia

    A. Khemakhem

  2. National Research Center for Materials Science, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

    M. R. Ben Romdhane

  3. National Institute of Scientific and Technical Research, Borj Cedria, Tunisia

    E. Srasra

Authors
  1. A. Khemakhem
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  2. M. R. Ben Romdhane
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  3. E. Srasra
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Correspondence to A. Khemakhem.

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Khemakhem, A., Ben Romdhane, M.R. & Srasra, E. Improved Performance of Ultrafiltration Membranes after Surface Modification. Surf. Engin. Appl.Electrochem. 56, 561–570 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068375520050075

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068375520050075

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