Studies on Cellulose Acetate/Aminated Poly(ether imide) Blend Ultrafiltration Membranes

Poly(ether imide) (PEI) was functionalized by amination. Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared from blends based on cellulose acetate (CA) and aminated poly(ether imide) (APEI) at various blend compositions. It was observed that the surface hydrophilicity of the CA/APEI blend membranes was enhanced remarkably with increase of APEI content. The pure water flux and percent water content of CA/APEI blend membranes increased from 46.7 to 90.0 lm(-2) h(-1) and 79.6 to 82.4 whereas the hydraulic resistance decreased from 15.67 to 4.81 kPa/lm(-2) h(-1), when the concentration of APEI increased from 5 to 30 wt%. The molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the blend membranes were found to vary from 19 to 150 kDa, for various blend compositions. The fouling resistance and strength of the blend membranes were improved considerably with an increase of APEI content. Morphology of the blend membranes were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM).