Effects of chitosan and piperazine on surface morphology and mebeverine hydrochloride removal in polyurea thin film composite membranes

Abstract

In this study, two novel polyurea thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membranes were prepared by interfacial polymerization. Chitosan (CS) and piperazine (PIP) were interfacially polymerized by toluene diisocyanate (TDI) monomer on the surface of poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) support layer. Surface morphology of TFC nanofiltration membranes was evaluated by field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In addition, surface charge, contact angle, pure water flux, and mebeverine hydrochloride rejection were performed. FE-SEM images confirmed formation of thin film and a dense top layer on the membrane surface. AFM images showed higher average roughness for TFC-PIP, in comparison with TFC-CS1.5 and PAN substrate. Flux decreased from 18 to 15 L/m2h, while mebeverine hydrochloride rejection increased from 63% for TFC-PIP to 95% for TFC-CS1.5. In addition, the fouling parameters showed better antifouling behavior of TFC-CS1.5 membrane, i.e. flux recovery ratio (FRR): 95.3% and total fouling ratio ( Rt): 33.3%. Finally, TFC-CS1.5 membrane was considered as an optimum membrane with the best performance and minimum fouling.