RESUMO
A novel kind of pH-stable positively charged composite nanofiltration (NF) membrane with excellent rejection performance was developed via interfacial polymerization on the surface of a polysulfone (PSF) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane, using a mixture of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and piperazine (PIP) as the monomers of the aqueous phase, and cyanuric chloride (CC) as the monomer of the organic phase. The strong electron withdrawing and steric hindrance effects of the chloride group in the molecules of CC could protect the amido bond from the attack of hydrogen ions (H+) or hydroxyl ions (OH-) under acidic or alkaline conditions, thus the resultant polyamide composite membranes could be stable in acidic or alkali aqueous solution. A more compact PA active layer could be developed via mixing PIP into the PEI aqueous solution, where the PIP molecules could fill the pores of the polymer networks. There was no obvious change in the surface morphologies, the chemical structures, and the rejection performances after immersing the resultant polyamine composite NF membranes in the strong acidic solution (pH 1) and the strong alkaline solution (pH 13) for 30 days, respectively. The rejection performances of this kind of polyamine composite NF membranes could be adjusted through adjusting the mass ratio of PEI to PIP in the aqueous phase.
RESUMO
Poly(phthalazinone-ether-sulfone) (PPES) polymer is a relatively newly developed material with a bis(4-fluorodiphenyl) sulfone group. The formation of the PPES membrane by wet-phase inversion can proceed according to a slow or fast gelation method. These formation mechanisms were studied experimentally. The resulting membrane morphology was investigated using both optical and scanning electron micrography. The effects of PPES concentration and two additives, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and oxalic acid (OA), on the apparent viscosity and gelation rate of PPESK/NMP solutions and membrane performance have also been investigated. It was found that the gelation rate is important to obtain a sponge-like membrane structure, however favored by a fast gelation rate. The membrane obtained by a fast gelation rate showed a high pure water flux and rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA), contrary to previous findings. On the basis of the experimental results, the actual membrane structure and pure water flux were related, and in agreement with the optical micrograph and gelation rate, respectively. The current results provide a fundamental insight in this novel copolymer, useful in future applications, especially in the membrane formation process.
