Effect of triple-tail surfactant on the morphological properties of polyethersulfone-based membrane and its antifouling ability

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 57; no. 34; pp. 16333 - 16351
• Main Authors: Mohamat, Rosmanisah, Bakar, Suriani Abu, Muqoyyanah, Mohamed, Azmi, Kamal, Siti Nur Elida Aqmar Mohamad, Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan, Rohani, Rosiah, Mamat, Mohamad Hafiz, Ahmad, Mohd Khairul, Kusuma, Hamdan Hadi, Astuti, Budi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Additives; Antifouling; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Composites & Nanocomposites; Contact angle; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Dyes; Graphene; Materials Science; Membranes; Methylene blue; Morphology; Nanofiltration; Phase separation; Polyethersulfones; Polymer Sciences; Rejection; Solid Mechanics; Surface active agents; Surfactants; Synthesis; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-022-07646-2

This study presents a simpler approach to directly synthesize graphene oxide (GO) via electrochemical exfoliation method utilizing customized triple-tail 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium, 1, 4-bis(neopentyoxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1, 4-dioxobutane-2-sulfonate (BMIM-TC14) and sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentylcarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulfonate (TC14) surfactants. The synthesized GO and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) were then used as additives in the fabrication of polyethersulfone (PES)-based nanofiltration (NF) membrane via non-solvent-induced phase separation method. The dye rejection performance and antifouling ability of the fabricated PES/GO BMIM-TC14 /TiO 2 and PES/GO TC14 /TiO 2 NF membranes were then investigated by comparing it with pristine PES membrane. It is worth noting that the utilization of triple-tail surfactant obviously enhanced membrane’s morphology in which PES/GO TC14 /TiO 2 NF membrane showed the highest hydrophilicity as shown by its lowest contact angle (68.98°). According to dead-end cell measurement, higher pure water flux (200.265 L/m 2 ·h) and dye rejection (86.58%) were also obtained by PES/GO TC14 /TiO 2 NF membrane compared to other fabricated membranes. Higher GO amount in the sample resulted from the utilization of triple-tail surfactants that was believed to improve the dye rejection performance and antifouling abilities. Both GO-based NF membranes also showed a high flux recovery ratio (> 100%) compared to the pristine PES membrane (5.88%), thereby implied their excellent antifouling ability. Graphical abstract