Preparation and modification of polyethersulphone MF/UF membrane by TiO2 nanoparticles for pre-treatment of Pink water

In this research, a continues system for pre-treatment of Pink water has been evaluated using Micro/Ultra structure membranes. Polyethersulphone (PES) Micro/Ultra Filtration (MF/UF) membranes were prepared by phase inversion method with and without nano-sized TiO2 particles. Three sets of neat membranes (without TiO2 particles) with different polymer concentrations, and two sets of modified (TiO2-embedded and UV-irradiated TiO2-coated) membranes have been prepared and evaluated for Pink water treatment. The membranes have been characterised by cross-flow filtration, SEM, EDS, contact angle and porosity measurements. Result shown that the composition of 16 wt% PES in neat membranes is an acceptable concentration for Pink water treatment. The results of the membrane modification with TiO2 particles showed that this would significantly increase water flux permeation and make modest changes for TNT rejection for pink water treatment. Moreover, result shown that the permeation flux of 2 wt% TiO2-embedded membrane is lower in comparison to 0.03 wt% TiO2-coated membrane. However, the TiO2-embedded membrane has been shown to have higher TNT rejection compared to the TiO2-coated membranes. Finally, a comparison between membranes proved that PES MF/UF membranes could successfully use as proper pre-treatment for Pink water treatment with the permeation flux 145–193 L.m−2.h−1and the rejection 20–30%.