Synthesis, characterization and permeation performance of cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol-600 membranes loaded with silver particles for ultra low pressure reverse osmosis

In order to tap the seemingly boundless problem of water scarcity, reverse osmosis (RO), has been formulated as a significant solution. However, RO technology, suffers by a major challenge of biofouling, which results in reduced production capacity and increased operation costs. Thus, there is an urgent demand to fabricate an appropriate disinfection membrane surface with maximum permeation performance. In this work, cellulose acetate/poly ethylene glycol membranes impregnated with silver particles were prepared by 2-stage phase inversion protocol. The Modified membranes were characterized for their compositional analysis, surface roughness, surface morphology, permeation properties, membrane hydraulic resistance and antibacterial activity. The presence of functional group was determined by FTIR spectra. The asymmetric surface morphology of membranes was elucidated from the scanning electron microscope. The varying nature of nodules and interstices spaces was observed in the images obtained by the atomic forced microscopy. The progressive decreased was observed in the surface roughness of membranes. The modification has significantly increased the flux and salt rejection capacity of membranes. All modified membranes exhibited remarkable antibacterial properties against gram negative Escherichia Coli. The synthesis of cellulose acetate membrane, doped with polyethylene glycol and modified with silver, provides a convenient way for the development of self-sterilized membranes. (C) 2015 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.