| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 624442 | Desalination | 2012 | 11 Pages |
UV-photografting using two different monomers, acrylic acid and N-vinylpyrrolidone, with different concentrations in an aqueous solution and various irradiation times were studied. Irreversible fouling of both the un-grafted polyethersulfone and the UV-grafted membranes have been studied using humic acid model solutions at two different pH values; 7 and 3. It was observed that the UV-grafted membranes exhibited practically less tendency to be irreversibly fouled by humic acid molecules at pH 7. However at the acidic condition of pH 3, some membranes exhibited a higher degree of fouling more than the un-grafted membrane, especially for membranes with higher roughness values. The smaller pore size generated after UV-grafting of polyethersulfone membrane did not significantly affect humic acid removal due to the larger humic acid molecular size.
Research Highlights► UV-photografting using two acrylic acid and N-vinylpyrrolidone, with different concentrations and various irradiation times were studied. ► Irreversible fouling of both the un-grafted membranes have been studied using humic acid model solutions. ► UV-grafted membranes exhibited practically less tendency to be irreversibly fouled by humic acid molecules at pH 7. Some membranes exhibited a higher degree of fouling pH 3 especially for membranes with higher roughness values. ► The smaller pore size after UV-grafting of polyethersulfone membrane did not significantly affect humic acid removal.
