Novel polysulfone-spray-dried silica composite membrane for water purification: Preparation, characterization and performance evaluation

Development of composite membrane using organic polymer and inorganic nanoparticles is an emerging field of water purification process. Here we report the preparation, characterization and performance of a novel composite polymeric membrane prepared using composite of spray dried silica granule and polysulfone. We investigate the structure and performance of the membranes prepared using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone or N,N-dimethyl formamide as solvent for the composite material. Such polymer-nanocomposite membrane shows significant enhancement of water permeability without sacrificing for the separation performance. In order to establish the structure-function correlation, we probed the mesoscopic structure of polymer casting solution and final membranes using small-angle scattering, atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurements. We put forward a plausible mechanism in support of the enhanced performance of the composite membranes.