The effect of glycine betaine additive on the PPSU/PSF ultrafiltration membrane performance

A series of new ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared by blending polyphenylsulfone and polysulfone with glycine betaine (GB) and polyethylene glycol-1000 (PEG-1000) as additive. GB of varying concentrations (0–2 wt.%) were dissolved in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone to prepare the membranes by phase inversion method. The membranes were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope and dispersive X-ray analysis to study the asymmetric nature of membranes and the retention of GB in membranes, respectively. The stability tests were conducted to study the stability of additives in the membranes. The membrane hydrophilicity was determined by contact angle, porosity, water uptake, and permeability studies. The addition of GB additives enhanced the membrane performance like permeability, antifouling property, and heavy metal rejection. Also, the antifouling property improved with the addition of GB. The antifouling nature was calculated by flux recovery ratio, reversible and irreversible fouling. Polymer-enhanced UF of heavy metals like Pb2+ and Cd2+ was performed and rejection of 80.23 and 71.45%, respectively, was exhibited by the GB 1 membrane with agreeable permeability and antifouling property. © 2016 Balaban Desalination Publications