Performance Enhancement of Polyethersulfone-Based Ultrafiltration Membrane Decorated by Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles for Dye Filtration

This study describes the modification of a polyethersulfone (PES)-based membrane by embedding titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) nanoparticles. The prepared composite membranes are then characterized and applied for melechate green dye (MG) filtration from water to asses its filtering capabilities. The effect of TiO2 contents on the morphology and filtration performance of the prepared composite membranes was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The blended membranes displayed improved water permeability and dye rejection compared to the plain PES. The membrane characterization results showed that compared to the plain PES membrane, the porosity of pure membrane increased (from 15.1% to 34.7%) with increasing the percentage of the embedded TiO2 . Then, the optical performance of the prepared membranes was examined in a cross-flow filtration system to separate MG dye from water. The filtration experiments showed that the composite PES/TiO2 membrane of 1.5 wt.% TiO2 has the best separation performance (permeate flux of 45 L/m2 .hr and dye removal efficiency of 80%).