Performance intensification of the polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane by blending with copolymer encompassing novel derivative of poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) for heavy metal removal from wastewater

A simple, scalable, novel polymer was synthesized by the aminolysis of poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) cumene terminated (PSMAC) using p-aminohippuric acid. The main objective was to perceive the effect of blend ratio of polysulfone (PSF) and poly[styrene-alt-(N-4-benzoylglycine-maleamic acid)] cumene terminated (PAH) on morphology and permeation properties of the membranes. The PSF/PAH blend membranes unveiled enriched hydrophilicity, porosity, zeta potential, water uptake and permeability owing to the existence of the hydrophilic PAH. However, the contact angle was not diminished over 20% of PAH ratio as there was an increase of hydrophobic alkyl group density. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed for the determination of the glass transition temperature of the blends and the results revealed that the polymer blend is miscible in nature. Moreover, the M-3 membrane was screened for the heavy metal ion removal and achieved removal of 91.5% of Pb2+ and 72.3% of Cd2+ ions, respectively. The adsorption parameters indicated that the Langmuir isotherm model fits well for both Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions adsorption on M-3 membrane. The adsorption capacity attained from Langmuir isotherm model was 19.35 and 9.88 mg/g for Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions correspondingly.