(661d) Functionalized Polyaniline MEMBRANES for Water Purification

Functionalized polyaniline membranes were synthesized through in-situ polymerization of side chain modified aniline with various dopants on the commercial waterman filter substrates. The functionalized membranes were characterized by SEM, dynamic contact angle, membrane zeta potential, FTIR, UV/vis, etc. The key advance of this membrane is to generate a super-hydrophilicity and variouble membranes surface morphologies through the oxidation state and various dopants changes of polyaniline.

The development of membranes applying the novel synthesis of functionalized polyaniline modified membranes offers much promise. Work has mainly focused on developing membranes with optimal mechanical properties. After this first stage of development, more work is on-going to understand the impact of several polyaniline coating synthesis parameters such as coating thickness, the dopant and de-dopant used, hydrophilicity and surface electrostatic interaction to optimize performance. The two most promising acids Poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PAS) and 4-Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) will be investigated in further detail to coat cellulose acetate and Polyethersulfone membranes. It was found that both oxidation states of polyaniline and the bulk size of dopants had significantly impacted to the filtration results in terms of water flux and fouling trial results.

The synthesis condition optimization, processing scale up, and comprehensive investigation on membrane morphology and filtration performance are on the way.

Keywords: Polyaniline, super-hydrophilicity, water purification, etc.