Sains Malaysiana 49(12)(2020): 3097-3104

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2020-4912-22

Surface Modification of Polyamide Ultrafiltration Membrane by Plasma Polymerisation of Acrylic Acid

(Pengubahsuaian Permukaan Membran Ultraturasan Poliamida dengan Pempolimeran Plasma Asid Akrilik)

A. SUHAIMI¹, E. MAHMOUDI^2,3, K.S. SIOW¹ & M.F. MOHD RAZIP WEE¹*

¹Institute of Micro Engineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

²Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

³Centre for Sustainable Process Technology (CESPRO), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Received: 21 August 2020/Accepted: 28 August 2020

ABSTRACT

Increase in hydrophilicity of the filtration membrane could attribute to the fouling reduction and overall filtration performance. In this study, we employ a surface modification on polyamide (PA) membrane by using plasma polymerization with acrylic acid as the precursor by varying the deposition time from 1 to 10 min to induce hydrophilic surface of the membrane without changing the bulk properties of PA membrane. Cross-flow filtration of humic acid using the modified PA membrane was conducted to measure permeates flux and rejection. We calculate the fouling tendencies of each membrane and the result indicates the best performance from sample with 7 min deposition time in terms of permeate flux, rejection and the lowest fouling tendencies. Therefore, this proposed technique could be useful to further improve the commercial filtration membrane; without changing the membrane fabrication process.

Keywords: Acrylic acid; cross-flow filtration; filtration membrane; hydrophilicity; surface modification

ABSTRAK

Peningkatan hidrofilik membran penurasan boleh dikaitkan dengan pengurangan kotoran dan prestasi penurasan secara keseluruhan. Dalam kajian ini, kami menggunakan pengubahsuaian permukaan pada membran poliamida (PA) dengan menggunakan teknik pempolimeran plasma dengan asid akrilik untuk mendorong permukaan hidrofilik membran tanpa mengubah sifat pukal membran PA. Masa yang digunakan untuk proses pengubahsuaian permukaan dipelbagaikan dari 1 ke 10 minit. Penurasan asid humik menggunakan membran PA yang diubah suai dilakukan untuk mengukur kadar pengeluaran air tapisan dan kadar penurasan kotoran dalam air. Kami menghitung kecenderungan kotoran setiap membran dan hasilnya menunjukkan prestasi terbaik pada sampel dengan masa pemendapan 7 min dari segi kadar pengeluaran air turasan, kadar turasan kotoran dalam air dan kecenderungan kotoran terendah. Oleh itu, teknik yang dicadangkan ini dapat meningkatkan lagi prestasi membran penurasan komersial tanpa mengubah proses fabrikasi membran.

Kata kunci: Aliran silang penurasan; asid akrilik; hidrofilik; membran penapisan; pengubahsuaian permukaan

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*Corresponding author; email: m.farhanulhakim@ukm.edu.my