Thin Film Composite Membranes: Mechanical and Antifouling Properties

¹ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
² Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: norinzamiah@salam.uitm.edu.my

Abstract

As compared to membranes produced from pure polymer or pure inorganic materials, a hybrid membrane possesses better mechanical and thermal properties. This paper reported on the effect of incorporating silica nano-precursor (tetraethylorthosilicate) as well as glycerol in the formulation of hybrid membrane on the mechanical properties and antifouling properties of the resultant thin film composite membranes. The mechanical properties were measured in terms of tensile strength, tensile strain and elastic modulus. Whereas for antifouling properties, it was evaluated through the measurements of relative flux decay (RFD) and relative flux recovery (RFR), along with the permeate flux rate, percentage glycerol permeated and NaCl rejection. Results showed that the presence of silica and glycerol in hybrid membrane’s formulation had increased the tensile strength and elongation of the resultant membranes. In addition to that, the incorporation of glycerol has resulted in thin film composite with better antifouling properties as compared to the thin film composite with barrier layer from the pure polymer blend. Based on its performance, the fabricated thin film composite has a great potential to be used as a pathway for crude glycerol purification due to some advantages over the existing process that employ membrane.