Water Treatment Using High Performance Antifouling Ultrafiltration Polyether Sulfone Membranes Incorporated with Activated Carbon – National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

Seminars and Workshops Water Treatment Using High Performance Antifouling Ultrafiltration Polyether Sulfone Membranes Incorporated with Activated Carbon

Topic of Research Seminar: Water Treatment Using High Performance Antifouling Ultrafiltration Polyether Sulfone Membranes Incorporated with Activated Carbon

Abstract: High performance ultrafiltration membranes are widely employed in water treatment due to excellent energy efficiency, facile operation and maintenances. However, membrane fouling is continued to be one of the most critical challenge. In consideration of this, polyether sulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with enhanced antifouling properties were fabricated via the phase inversion method by incorporating varying concentration of activated carbon (AC) modified with APTMS. The modified activated carbon (mAC) was thoroughly characterized and the fabricated membranes were studied for their surface morphology, functional groups, mechanical properties, water contact angle, water retention, porosity, and water flux. The hydrophilicity of mAC also resulted in lower contact angel of the prepared membranes, and higher values of porosity, roughness, water retention as well as water flux. In addition, the prepared membranes incorporated with mAC exhibited antibacterial performance against as model test strains of gram-negative E. Coil and gram-positive S. aureus as compared to pristine membranes. The antifouling studies based on bovine serum albumin protein (BSA) solution filtration through prepared mAC membranes of higher incorporation of 4% (w/w) and 7% (w/w) resulted in better antifouling over 90% as compared to only pristine PES membrane i.e., 30%. The higher flux and antifouling characteristics of the mAC membranes were attributed to the electrostatic repulsion of the BSA protein from the unique functional properties of AC and network structure of APTMS. The novel mAC ultrafiltration membranes developed and studied in present work can provide higher flux and less BSA rejection thus can find antifouling applications for the isolation and concentration of proteins and macromolecules.

Subject Field of Topic: Materials Engineering

Name of Speaker: Zubia Abid

Professorial Rank of Speaker: PhD Student

University Email of Speaker: [email protected]

Affiliation of Speaker: NUST School of Chemical and Materials Engineering (NUST-SCME)

Date and Venue: June 13, 2023 at 1400 hrs, Seminar Hall, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, NUST Islamabad Campus