Novel blended poly(sulfide sulfone)/poly(ether sulfone) dense membranes for water treatment

In this research, a novel aromatic poly(sulfide sulfone) (PPY) containing pyridine and sulfide groups is synthesized by polycondensation reactions of a new diol(diol-PY) with bis(4-fluorophenyl) sulfone. Also a poly(ether sulfone) (PBM) is prepared through reaction of 4,4 '-(1,3-phenylenediisopropylidene) bisphenol(bisphenol M) with bis(4-fluorophenyl) sulfone similarly. The chemical structure of diol-PY and polymers is identified by spectroscopic techniques. PBM/PPY blending dense membranes with composition of 100/0, 75/25, and 50/50 wt% are developed via phase inversion induced method by solvent evaporation. The prepared dense membranes are specified by water contact angle, water absorption, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and tensile strength. Pure water flux, hydraulic water permeability, and salt permeability are applied to evaluate the process performance of the membrane. According to SEM and DSC results, good miscibility of two polymers is concluded. Thermal stability of PBM/PPY blend membranes enhance compared with PBM membrane. Water contact angle and water absorption evaluation indicate that the hydrophilicity of PBM membrane improve by incorporating of PPY in the casting polymer solution. The similar result is observed for pure water flux and hydraulic water permeability of the synthesized dense membranes.