The effect of unique structural flower-like TiO2 towards polysulfone mixed matrix membrane as efficient antifouling and antibacterial for humic acid removal

Recent advancement of polymer mixed matrix membrane (MMM) embedded with either inorganic or organic additive have gained much interest among researchers. In this work, flower-like TiO2 (FLT) additive with a high surface area was synthesized using hydrothermal method. Generally, a high surface area indirectly provides more active sides that improve additive functionality. Thus, the effect of unique structural with different concentrations of FLT as an additive towards polysulfone (PSf) MMM was investigated in terms of characteristics and performance. The results of cross-sectional morphology, additive distribution, hydrophilicity, and surface roughness show that the polymer MMM was significantly improved with better surface adherence and well-dispersed of FLT inside the membrane structure. This improvement increased membrane performances such as permeation (from 61.34 L/m2h for neat PSf membrane and 137.81 L/m2h for 3 wt% PSf-ST MMM to 3 wt% 155.46 L/m2h for PSf-FLT MMM), rejection (above 97% for PSf-FLT MMM), antibacterial (261.24 cm2 and 145.13 cm2 for 3 wt% PSf-ST and 3 wt% PSf-FLT, respectively) and antifouling properties (with 85.62% FRR for 3 wt% PSf-FLT compared to 74.10% FRR for 3 wt% PSf-ST). Different shapes and geometries of FLT solved the drawbacks of ST, especially in eliminating the agglomeration effect by providing more adherence surface area.