Biofouling of polysulfone and polysulfone-graphene oxide nanocomposite membrane and foulant removal

Abstract

The present paper evaluates the performance decline of Polyulfone and Polysulfone-Graphene oxide nanocomposite membranes by biofouling. The membranes were exposed to two different bacteria, - Klebsiella and Pseudomonas for 3 days at a constant temperature of 30 °C and 40 °C. Upto 96.66% decline in water-flux was observed when the polysulfone membrane was exposed to Pseudomonas strain at 30 °C; however the percent decline for nanocomposite membrane was significantly lower. The fouled membranes were treated with sodium hypochlorite to remove the biofouling and it was found that % increase in water-flux after the treatment was more pronounced in case of nanocomposite as compared to polysulfone membrane for Klebsiella strain. The absolute water-flux was higher in nanocomposite membrane as compared to polysulfone membrane for both cases. The fouling was quite evident in scanning electron micrographs and atomic force microscope analysis, which got removed significantly by the treatment.