Polysulfone membranes with natural additives for water purification: Fabrication and performance testing

Abstract

The water scarcity is a leading problem all around the world. It occurs due to the increasing demand for clean water and depleting fresh water on earth. Water scarcity affects various aspects of human and animal life. The solution to reduce the burden on fresh water on earth is to purify the water available. Water purification leads to remove harmful contaminants from water and makes water useable for day-to-day human activities. The market of membrane technology is growing faster in this field. The main reason is less consumption of energy and scalability. The contaminant removal depends on the type of membranes and the pore size of membranes used. This study focuses on identifying appropriate materials for membranes and additives for cost-effective water filtration systems. Polysulfone (psf) beads are used as a base polymer, n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), the solvent; and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), the pore former. The additives used were date palm powder and banana leaf powder. Various compositions of dope solutions were prepared for each additive. The membranes were tested for water flux, thickness, hydrophilicity, pore size, porosity, antifouling capacity, and mechanical strength. The comparison showed that, the membrane with 0.15 %wt of banana leaf powder has given highest water permeability, porosity, antifouling capability, and mechanical strength. The pore size of these membranes is less than the most commonly found bacteria in water i.e. E. Coli. These membranes are also suitable for high pressure and temperature environmental conditions.