Polypyrrole as the interlayer for thin-film poly(piperazine-amide) composite membranes: Separation behavior of salts and pesticides

The preparative membrane process is a dynamic one and intertwined with the separation arena. As for the progression of technology in membranes, our direction is to prepare polypyrrole interlayer-based thin-film composite (TFC) membrane. Polypyrrole shows its attachment ability with polysulfone membranes. The coverings of pores with the polypyrrole entity result in better flux in terms of TFC membranes compared to TFC membranes on polysulfone (Memb-I). The membranes are characterized by FTIR-ATR, contact angle, zeta potential, SEM, AFM. Polypyrrole interlayer-based membrane (Memb-II) show better flux though it sacrifices salt separation ability compared to Memb-I. Memb-II shows a better separation of pesticides (diuron and isoproturon) compared to Memb-I. Memb-II provides isoproturon's separation ability (89.52% rejection, 54.9 LMH), whereas, for diuron, it is 78.82%, 53.46 LMH. The antimicrobial property is seen for interlayer polypyrrole-based TFC membranes.

Automated summary

In the study of polypyrrole interlayer-based thin-film composite (TFC) membranes, although Memb-II shows better flux, it sacrifices salt separation ability, while it demonstrates better separation efficiency for pesticides compared to Memb-I.