Effect of Additive Molecular Weight and Dope Composition on the Morphology and Performance of Poly(ε-Caprolactone)/Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Asymmetric Membranes
Smitha Manholi
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Department of Chemistry, N.S.S. College, Manjeri, Malappuram, Kerala, India
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Software (lead), Validation (lead), Visualization (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorArdra Ashok K.P.
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Contribution: Writing - review & editing (supporting)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sujith Athiyanathil
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Correspondence:
Sujith Athiyanathil ([email protected])
Contribution: Supervision (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorSmitha Manholi
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Department of Chemistry, N.S.S. College, Manjeri, Malappuram, Kerala, India
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Software (lead), Validation (lead), Visualization (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorArdra Ashok K.P.
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Contribution: Writing - review & editing (supporting)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sujith Athiyanathil
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala, India
Correspondence:
Sujith Athiyanathil ([email protected])
Contribution: Supervision (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorFunding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.
ABSTRACT
An eco-friendly based asymmetric membrane was prepared using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) pore former in a water medium by the nonsolvent-induced phase separation method (NIPS). The current study investigates the effect of pore-forming, hydrophilic agent PEG with molecular weights ranging from low to high in two different dope compositions of 10% and 12%. Structural and morphological features of the membranes were studied and confirmed asymmetric nature and finger-like morphology. Porosity and pore size significantly reduced when the dope composition increased. Whereas increased porosity with a slight reduction in the pore size was observed with the increase in the additive molecular weight. The filtration performance, porosity, and hydrophilic properties were analyzed. The water contact angle of the membranes decreases from 69.2 to 56.2 in 10% dope and 73.9 to 59.1 in 12% dope composition. The pure water flux also increased from 68.23 to 153 as the additive molecular weight increased. Rejection studies were conducted with an oil and immunoglobulin protein as permeate and the membrane incorporating the highest molecular weight PEG showed 98% rejection for protein and 89% rejection for oil with a flux recovery ratio of 87.5%.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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