Separation of oil/water emulsion using Pluronic F127 modified polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes

Polyethersulfone (PES) membranes modified by the amphiphilic copolymer Pluronic F127 were applied to the separation of oil/water emulsion. Due to the enhanced surface hydrophilicity, all the PES/Pluronic F127 membranes exhibited higher permeate flux and better antifouling property compared with the control membrane. When the weight ratio of Pluronic F127 to PES (WF127/WPES) in the membrane casting solution was increased from 0 to 20%, the flux of oily feed solution was increased from 42.77 to 82.98 L/m2h with 100% oil rejection. There was no flux recovery for all used membranes when being washed with pure water. However, the flux recovery ratio could be increased to 93.33% when washing with sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) solution. It was proposed that the presence of surfactant prevented the deposited oil droplets from coalescing with each other and spreading on membrane surface (including membrane pore surface).