INFLUENCE OF CLAY CONTENT IN MEMBRANE MORPHOLOGY OF POLYMER POLYAMIDE 6.6/MONTMORILLONITE CLAY

Membranes can be defined as a barrier that separates two phases and is widely applied in industrial separation processes. The development of membrane separation processes (PSM) has the major advantage of phase change without separation of components, besides selectivity and simplicity of operation. The addition of mineral fillers in polymers is intended for the cost reduction and increase in rigidity of the materials. When these loads have sizes of nanometric dimensions, this system is called nanocomposites, which exhibit improved properties compared to the pure polymers or conventional composites. Microporous membranes were obtained from polyamide 6.6 nanocomposites of varying amounts of regional montmorillonite clay through the immersion-precipitation process. In general, the membranes showed a filter skin, which contains very small pores and a porous layer, with variations in microstructure, detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).