Fabrication and characterization of polysulfone and polyethersulfone membranes applied in the treatment of fish skin tanning effluent

The tanning industries are responsible for generating high amounts of contaminated effluent and membrane separation processes can be used to treat this type of wastewater. This paper aimed at the fabrication of polymeric membranes from the phase inversion technique and its application in the treatment of fish skin dye tanning effluent. The membranes were characterized with thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, water absorption, porosity, average size pore and permeation with distilled water in the range of 1–4 bar. The antifouling properties of the membranes were evaluated after filtration of solution of bovine albumin (BSA) (Cycle 1) and the tannery effluent (Cycle 2). The characterization showed that the prepared membranes are anisotropic with porous sub-layer, thermally resistant up until 300 °C and hydrophilic. The membranes with the highest percentage of polyethersulfone (PES) in the composition showed greater hydrophilicity and porosity. Regardless of the polymeric composition, all membranes showed 80% BSA rejection. The membrane with 16.4 wt%PES, 5.0 wt%PSU and 3.0 wt%NaCl showed the best results, reducing 88% of the chemical oxygen demand and 92% of the absorbance of fish skin tanning effluent. Regardless of composition and hydrophilicity, all membranes had their flux recovery higher than 95% after permeation of BSA and effluent. The results obtained with fabrication membranes from polymer blends showed themselves to be promising for treatment of fish skin dye effluent.