Preparation of low-cost composite membrane made of polysulfone/polyetherimide ultrafiltration layer and ceramic pozzolan support for dyes removal

This study concerns the development and characterization of composite ultrafiltration membrane made of polymer blend of polysulfone (PSf) and polyetherimide (PEI) as membrane layer and flat pozzolan support. The organic layer was deposed on ceramic support by spin/spray-coating method. The effect of PEI content (5–20 wt.%) on membrane proprieties in terms of microstructure and filtration performance was investigated. The prepared membrane was characterized using several techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle. The morphology analysis showed that PSf/PEI membrane layer is homogeneous and strongly adherent on the pozzolan support. The thickness layer is uniform and found to be between 10.3 and 11.2 μm. Furthermore, performances of the prepared composite membranes were evaluated by filtration of acid orange 74 (AO74) and methyl orange (MO) solutions at pressure of 3 bar. The optimized membrane (prepared with 20 wt.% of PEI) has water permeability of 24.2 L/h m2 bar and maximum rejection of 96.1 and 75.8% respectively for AO74 and MO. Based on promising filtration results as well as the low cost of prepared membrane, industrial applications for treatment of wastewater particularly colored wastewater generated from textile industries may take place.