Improved performance of PAN-based UF membrane with PAN-G-PVA amphiphilic copolymer

• Main Authors: Mohd. Nazri, Noor Aina, Lau, Woei Jye, Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi, Saidin, Mohammad Abdul Razis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Penerbit UTM 2013
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/50133/1/NoorAinaMohdNazri2013_ImprovedperformanceofPAN-based.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/50133/; https://dx.doi.org/10.11113/jt.v65.2332

The present study focuses on the effect of poly (acrylonitrile) (PAN)-g-poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) amphiphilic copolymer as an additive on fabrication of PAN-based UF hollow fiber membrane. The PAN-based hollow fiber membranes with different copolymer composition in dope solution were prepared via dry-wet phase inversion process. Compared to PAN-based membrane, membranes incorporated with PAN-g-PVA copolymer displayed good morphology and better hydrophilicity. It is found that pure water flux of the membrane incorporated with amphiphilic copolymer was 5 times higher than that of control membrane, recording 244.97 L/m2.hr when tested at 1 bar. Results also showed that the UF membranes incorporated with amphiphilic copolymer were able to retain efficiently bovine serum albumin (BSA) (66 kDa) and possessed better anti-fouling performance