Investigation of structure-performance properties of a special type of polysulfone blended membranes

Membranes require superior mechanical strength due to applied harsh conditions. The mechanical properties of membranes decrease with increasing hydrophilicity of its elements. In this study, mechanical properties were investigated for two special blended membranes which were made by blending polysulfone with (polysulfone-g-poly (n-butylacrylate) and polysulfone-g-poly (tert-butylacrylate) as components. All of the prepared membranes were characterized by differential scanning calorimeter, thermal gravimetric analysis, field emission scanning electron microscope, and atomic electron microscope and were investigated in terms of pure water flux, water contact angle, molecular weight cut off, and morphology. It was found that water contact angle decreased from 73.6 degrees which belongs to neat membrane decreased to 46 degrees for blended membranes containing higher amounts of copolymers; however, the pure water flux increased with increasing copolymer content considerably compared with the neat membrane. Also, molecular weight cut off increased aggressively. Furthermore, mechanical properties including tensile strength, Young modulus, and elongation at break were measured and compared with the neat polysulfone membrane. Results showed that the tensile strength and modulus decreased with an increase in the copolymers content, despite the increase in the elongation at break. The effect of applied pressure on the membrane structure and also bursting strength were studied, and it has been proved that not only the structure of the membranes but also their performance is strongly affected by the composition of the membranes