Synthesis and characterization of enhanced polysulfone-based mixed matrix membranes containing ZSM-5 zeolite for protein and dye removal

In this paper, polysulfone (PSf)-based ultrafiltration (UF) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) embedded with ZSM-5 zeolite nanoparticles were synthesized via the NIPS method. The membranes were characterized by FESEM, ATR-FTIR, AFM, and tensile analyses, along with contact angle, porosity, and mean pore size measurements. The FESEM images indicated that the addition of hydrophilic ZSM-5 nanoparticles has led to formation of more and larger finger-like macrovoids. Moreover, hydrophilicity and pure water flux (PWF) values were consequently augmented, which was also approved by water contact angle reduction. The maximum PWF was equal to 394.7 L m^-2h⁻¹ at 3 bar for the optimum MMM, containing 1 wt% ZSM-5 which is 125.4 % greater than the value for the bare membrane. In addition, filtration of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein and aqueous solutions of two organic dyes were carried out. The highest BSA flux value was obtained 217.9 L m^-2h⁻¹ for the optimum membrane, where the BSA rejection values were all greater than 98 %. Furthermore, the optimum MMM displayed the highest flux recovery ratio (FRR%) of 60.1 % as well as the dyes rejection values equal to 95.5 % and 74.1 % for reactive black 5 (RB 5) and reactive yellow 160 (RY 160), respectively, representing its great potential to be applied in various wastewater treatment applications.