Effect of Modified Montmorillonite on Polyethersulfone Nanocomposite Membranes

Abstract

Abstract The effect of clay dosage of Tetrabutylammonium-Modified Montmorillonite (TBr MMT) and Tetrachloride-Modified Montmorillonite (TCl MMT) on physico-chemical properties, morphology, the permeation characteristics, and mechanical properties of the prepared membrane were investigated in detail. The presence of TBr MMT and TCl MMT in PES membrane were confirmed by FTIR analysis due to the presence of Si-O functional groups. Meanwhile, in XRD analysis, the optimum clay content in PES matrix revealed the highest degree of exfoliation in PES nanocomposite membrane. The addition of optimum clay loading at 0.8 wt% for TBr and 1.0 wt% TCl provided the highest degree of exfoliation in nanocomposite membrane. In comparison with other membranes, the perfect dispersion of nanoclays in PTBr-0.8 and PTCl-10 is responsible for the superior enhancement of final membrane properties in terms of thermal stability, mechanical stability, hydrophilicity and its porosity. Filtration performance results also revealed the greatest increment of pure water permeation after the addition of 0.8 wt% TBr MMT and 1.0 wt% TCl MMT in the membrane matrix.