Thermally resistant and electrically conductive PES/ITO nanocomposite membrane

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), hybridized with incorporation of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) within the organic polymeric membranes, have attracted considerable attention due to intriguing potential to develop novel membranes with multiple functionalities. In the present work, the effect of addition of conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) NPs into polyethersulfone (PES) casting solution to form an ITO doped phase inversion PES membrane was studied. The experimental results showed that the incorporation of ITO NPs into the PES matrix improved thermal and electrical properties of the resulting hybrid membrane. The PES/ITO nanocomposite membrane demonstrated an enhanced antifouling propensity without any loss in separation efficiency compared to unmodified PES membrane. The combination of ITO NPs and the polymeric membranes provides a pathway to develop antifouling membranes with a higher thermal tolerance and tunable electrical characteristics. The prepared nanocomposite membranes can alter their characteristics based on external stimuli such as electric fields which might open up novel applications for different separation processes by membranes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.