Morphological analysis of Polyethersulfone/polyvinyl Acetate blend membrane synthesized at various polymer concentrations

• Main Authors: Hadi, S.H.A.A., Mannan, H.A., Mukhtar, H., Shaharun, M.S., Murugesan, T.
• Format: Article
• Published: Institute of Physics Publishing 2016
• Online Access: http://scholars.utp.edu.my/id/eprint/22055/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84988528191&doi=10.1088%2f1755-1315%2f36%2f1%2f012015&partnerID=40&md5=e4dfd486ee40d4ec6756556cb22e8aec

This paper reports the effect of varying polymer concentration i.e. solvent/polymer ratio on the morphology and gas transport behaviour of polyethersulfone/polyvinyl acetate blend membrane. The solvent used was dimethylformamide, while the manipulated variable was polymer concentration. The concentrations were varied from 75-90 weight solvent. A homogeneous surface with dense cross-section structure membranes were successfully developed as deduced from FESEM images. The permeability of CO2 and CH4 gases increased with increasing polymer concentration and an improved CO2/CH4 selectivity was observed. These observation made from the characterization justified the applicability of the blend to be synthesized as membrane for gas separation. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.