Habib Etemadi

Ultrafiltration membranes were prepared from blends with polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS) by non-solvent induced phase separation technique. The blend membranes were prepared with ABS composition from 0 to 10 wt.%. Different techniques such as field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, contact angle, pure water flux (PWF) mechanical tensile strength and filtration experiment of humic acid (HA) in a submerged membrane system were applied to evaluate the morphology and performance of membranes. The optimum PC/ABS blend ratio (PC/ABS-5) was selected by discussing the hydrophilicity, PWF, and tensile strength. FESEM images showed that when ABS was added to the PC membrane, macrovoids developed in number and size, promoting the formation of many finger-like pores, WHICH quantized lengthened to the bottom of the membranes. The obtained results from antifouling performance revealed that the blend membrane had higher antifouling properties as compared to neat PC membrane due to the presence of a hydrophilic nitrile group on the blend membrane surface. Also, the PC/ABS-5 blend membrane significantly decreased the irreversible fouling ratio from 14.8% to 1.8%. As a final result, the neat PC membrane showed 84.6% removal of HA, while this value increased to 98.6% for the blend membrane.