Preparation and characterization of Polyaniline and TiO2 based nanocomposite membranes for water purification

Abstract

Membrane based separation has proved its efficiency over other traditional techniques of water purification. Significant research had been done in this area, still the abundant scope of membrane technology has driven many scientists to further explore the field. The current research work is one such attempt to study the efficiency of nanomaterials in the polymeric membranes. This research work is focused on incorporating Polyaniline and TiO2 based nanocomposites into the polymer membranes and to study the properties and performance of the prepared polymer nanocomposite membranes. Polyvinylidene fluoride and Polysulfone were the two polymers used in this study. The different nanomaterials prepared for this study include Polyaniline nanofibers, Polyaniline coated TiO2, sulfated TiO2, Aminated TiO2. The properties and performance of the membranes was analyzed by cross sectional morphology, surface hydrophilicity, water uptake capacity, surface topography studies, permeation properties, antifouling ability. The self-cleaning ability of the membranes was determined by evaluating the flux recovery ratio. The water purification ability of the membranes was evaluated in terms of heavy metal ion rejection and dye removal studies. Polyvinylidene fluoride membrane containing 1.0 wt.% of Polyaniline nanofibers exhibited a maximum rejection of 98.52% and 97.38% for Pb2+ and Cd2+ respectively. Polysulfone membranes containing sulfated TiO2 were successful in removing Methylene Blue dye up to 90.4% under Ultraviolet radiation. PolyanilineTiO2 incorporated Polysulfone hollow fibre membranes showed maximum rejection of 81.5% and 96.5% for Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Orange 16 dyes respectively.