Fabrication and hydrophilic properties of polysulfone/modified multiwalled carbon nanotube composite membranes

The polysulfone (PSF)/modified multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs-COOH) composite membranes were formed via phase inversion process. The membranes used PSF as film-forming materials, MWCNTs-COOH as additives, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as pore-foaming agent and N, N-dimethylacetamide as solvent. The effects of MWCNTs-COOH constitution, solvent evaporation time and coagulation bath composition on the composite membranes were studied systematically. Experiment results showed that the hydrophilic property and anti-pollution ability of composite membranes were improved remarkably. In addition, the mechanical property was also improved significantly. SEM images showed that the porous structure of cross-section changed from finger type to sponge type when the solvent evaporation time increased or the DMAc mass fraction increased of the coagulation bath, the pure water flux was declined and the BSA rejection was increased observably.