Authors : N.S. Mohd Sabri, M.Q.A.Z.Z. Azlan, H. Hasbullah, N. Said, W.J. Lau, N. Ibrahim, R.M. Kasmani, R.R. Ali and S.A. Rahman
Abstract: Copper Oxide (CuO) is a transition metal that has been use in wide applications. The nano size of CuO demonstrates a great of improvement on mechanical, optical, biological and structural properties. Hence, in this research asymmetric Polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration membranes incorporated with different loadings of CuO Nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared to investigate membrane characteristic and water permeation performance. The flat sheet membranes were fabricated via phase inversion technique with polymer solution comprised of 18 wt.% PSf, 5 wt.% Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and 0.00-0.15 wt.% CuO NPs in N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP). The resulting membranes were characterized in terms of morphology through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), surface hydrophilicity by contact angle analysis and Pure Water Flux (PWF). Results showed that with increasing in loading of CuO Nps, the water contact angle decreased from 81.9° of neat Psf to 73.1° for 0.15 wt.% CuO. The high concentration of CuO NPs in PSf dope solution lead to the formation of macrovoids in the bottom region and skin layer at the top surface. Membranes with enhanced hydrophilicity and porous structure govern to improve the water flux performances. The highest PWF achieved at 103.6 Lm–2h–1 when the loading up to 0.15 wt.% CuO NPs. This study is proved the hydrophilicity and morphology of CuO/PSf membranes were enhanced as the increase of CuO loadings.
N.S. Mohd Sabri, M.Q.A.Z.Z. Azlan, H. Hasbullah, N. Said, W.J. Lau, N. Ibrahim, R.M. Kasmani, R.R. Ali and S.A. Rahman, 2017. Effect of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Loading on Polysulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 12: 4745-4751.