Development Of Antifouling Ultrafiltration Pes Membranes For Concentration Of Hemicellulose

A new approach for one-stage facile membrane modification during non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS)-process is proposed. The novelty of this study is that cheap and commercially available anionic high molecular polyacrylamide-based flocculant (AHMPF) is applied for the first time as an additive to coagulation bath (CB). The series of polyethersulfone membranes were prepared using 0.05-0.3 wt% AHMPF aqueous solution as CB at different temperatures (25-50 degrees C) via NIPS. The effect of AHMPF concentration on the structure, composition and hydrophilicity of membranes was investigated. The separation and antifouling performance were evaluated during filtration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution and thermomechanical pulp mills process water (ThMP) in order to concentrate hemicellulose. The successful immobilization of AHMPF into the structure of membranes selective layer (not bottom layer) was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. It was established that despite the similar rejection of hemicellulose (88.8-93%) and lignin (20-21.4), modified membranes demonstrate 3-8 times higher flux and 2 times higher FRR (43.8% for reference membrane and 86.5% for modified one) in ThMP ultrafiltration. The developed membrane was found to be highly efficient in hemicellulose concentration and purification in pulp industry.