The Improved Oil Removal Using Polysulfone Membranes Containing Al2O3 Nanoparticles

Abstract

Oil-intensive industries produce environmentally problematic wastewaters and their treatment is more difficult because of their high stability in aqueous solutions. Although conventional separation methods are used for the removal of oily compounds, these processes cannot satisfy environmental regulations. Therefore membrane separation processes such as microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) have gained attention to separate micron sized oily compounds. Many researchers have studied to increase the oil removal performance of membrane filtration by incorporating nanoparticles to the membrane matrix. In this study, the flat-sheet PSF/PEI/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method for oil removal. The oil removal performances of the membranes were evaluated with 1,800 mg/L synthetic wastewater. 20 nm Al₂O₃ nanoparticles was added to the membrane matrix with three different weight percentages of 0.2 wt%, 1 wt% and 5 wt%. The effect of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles on the structural properties and filtration performance of the membranes were investigated. Prepared membranes were characterized in terms of SEM, contact angle, water flux, porosity, ATR-FTIR, porosity and tensile strength. The highest oil removal efficiency was obtained by 15 wt% PSF, 1 wt% PEI and 0.2% wt Al₂O₃ nanoparticles blended nanocomposite membrane with an oil rejection of 99 %.

Keywords

• oil removal,polysulfone membranes,Al2O3 nanoparticles

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