• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.257-275
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• 2016

The enantiomeric and racemic effects of tartaric acid (TA) on the properties of polysulfone (PSn) ultrafiltration membranes were studied in terms of morphology and hydrophilicity (HPCT) of membrane. Asymmetric membranes were prepared by direct blending of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) with D-TA and DL-TA in membrane casting solution. FTIR analysis was done for the confirmation of the reaction of PVP and TA in blended membranes and plain PSn membranes. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used for analyzing the morphology and structure of the resulting membranes. The membranes were characterized in terms of pure water flux (PWF), hydraulic permeability and HPCT. PWF increased from $52L/m^2h$ to $79.9L/m^2h$ for plain and D-TA containing PSn membrane, respectively. Water contact angle also found to be decreased from $68^{\circ}$ to $55^{\circ}$. In Additionally, permeation and rejection behavior of prepared membranes was studied by bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution. A considerable increase in BSA flux (from $19.1L/m^2h$ for plain membrane to $32.1L/m^2h$ for D-TA containing membrane) was observed. FESEM images affirm that the pore size of the membranes decreases and the membrane permeability increases from 0.16 to 0.32 by the addition of D-TA in the membrane. D-TA increases the HPCT whereas; DL-TA decreases the HPCT of PSn membrane. PVP (average molecular weight of 40000 Da) with D-TA (1 wt%) gave best performance among all the membranes for each parameter.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.228-230
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• 2008

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2003

In order to improve the mechanical properties of the sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf) membranes previously synthesized in our laboratory, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was blended which is well known as the excellent physical and chemical properties. The resulting membranes blended with several molecular weight of PVA varying from 13,000 to 124,000 have been characterized to investigate the effect of PVA molecular weight in terms of ion conductivities, methanol permeabilities, water contents and ion exchange capacities for both heat treated and untreated membranes at 150$^{\circ}C$. The proton conductivity is decreased as the molecular weight of PVA increases. The plain SPSf-6.0 showed the proton conductivity of 0.078 S/cm whereas the blended membrane with M.W. 31,000 PVA indicated 0.04 S/cm. For methanol permeabilities, when PVA is added to SPAf-6.0, methanol crossover is increased because of the gain of the hydrophilicity from 3.4 to 6.5${\times}$10$\^$-6/ $\textrm{cm}^2$/s. For the annealed blended membranes (with M.W. 31,000 PVA), both the methanol corssover and proton conductivity showed very consistent values, about 2.3${\times}$10$\^$-6/ $\textrm{cm}^2$/s and 0.036 S/cm, respectively.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.191-199
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• 2022

In industrial production, the development of traditional polyamide nanofiltration (NF) membrane was limited due to its poor oxidation resistance, complex preparation process and high cost. In this study, a composite NF membrane with high flux, high separation performance, high oxidation resistance and simple process preparation was prepared by the method of dilute solution dip coating. And the sulfonated polysulfone was used for dip coating. The results indicated that the concentration of glycerin, the pore size of the based membrane, the composition of the coating solution, and the post-treatment process had important effects on the structure and performance of the composite NF membrane. The composite NF membrane prepared without glycerol protecting based membrane had a low flux, when the concentration of glycerin increased from 5% to 15%, the pure water flux of the composite NF membrane increased from 46.4 LMH to 108.2 LMH, and the salt rejection rate did not change much. By optimizing the coating system, the rejection rate of Na₂SO₄ and PEG1000 was higher than 90%, the pure water flux was higher than 40 LMH (60psi), and it can withstand 20,000 ppm.h NaClO solution cleaning. When the post treatment processes was adjusted, the salt rejection rate of NaCl solution (250 ppm) reached 45.5%, and the flux reached 62.2 LMH.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.258-264
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• 2012

In this study, to research effect of coagulation bath and composition of dope solution, polysulfone flat sheet membrane was fabricated by phase inversion method. PEG and PVP were used as additive. Concentration of polymer and additive, composition of coagulation bath was controlled to prepare flat sheet membrane. And then the morphology and water flux of prepared membrane were measured by FE-SEM and water flux testing apparatus. The highest value of water flux was measured at the membrane prepared under a 15 wt% PSF, 25 wt% PEG conditions, and water as coagulation bath. The pure water flux of the membrane composed of PSf/PEG was drastically decreased with increasing amount of DMAc. We confirmed that change of amount in additive and composition in coagulation bath influence the morphology and water flux performance of the membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2015

Polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber membrane was prepared to separate $CO_2$ from the flaring gas. Fabricated PSF membrane system was fulfilled under 1 stage, 2 stage membrane process and simulation in order to confirm the operating condition for 99% of $CH_4$ and 1% of $CO_2$ concentration. Also, $25Nm^3/h$ bench scale $CO_2$ separation membrane system was operated under 1% of $CO_2$ concentration during 100 hr, and $CH_4$ recovery ratio was 98%.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.447-455
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• 2015

In this study, Polysulfone (PSf) and polyetherimide (PEI) as the anion exchange polymers were aminated in the different ratio whereas the polyether ether ketone (PEEK) as the cation exchange polymer was sulfonated. The bipolar membranes of SPEEK (sulfonated PEEK)/APSf (aminated PSf) and SPEEK/APEI (aminated PEI) were prepared by the double-casting method. The surfaces of bipolar membranes were fluorinated in accordance with the amination ratio and applied to produce the hypochlorite. As the amination increased, the hypochlorite concentration is also increased. Typically, for SPEEK/APSf 3 : 1 membrane, the produced hypochlorite concentration was 61.0 ppm and its durability was 220 min for the non-fluorinated membrane while for the fluorinated membrane, the concentration of 58.6 ppm and its durability lasted 570 min. Also for SPEEK/APEI 3 : 1 membrane, the hypochlorite concentrations of 60.1 ppm and 58.3 ppm for before- and after-fluorination, respectively were observed whereas the durability was remarkably developed from 150 min to 440 min. Therefore, the surface fluorination takes an important role for the development of the membrane durability.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.443-455
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• 2021

In this study, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) was used as a support and a separator was manufactured using polysulfone and inorganic additives to manufacture a separator with low membrane resistance for application of an alkali water electrolysis system, and then the effect on the thickness and porosity of the support was analyzed. The PPS felt used as a support was compressed with variables of temperature (100℃, 150℃, 200℃) and pressure (1 ton, 2 tons, 3 tons, 5 tons) to adjust the thickness. A porous separator could be manufactured by preparing a slurry with polysulfone using BaTiO₃ and ZrO₂ which have high hydrophilicity and excellent alkali resistance as inorganic particles and casting the slurry on a compressed PPS felt. Changes in morphology of the separator according to compression conditions were confirmed through an electron scanning microscope (SEM). After that, the porosity was calculated, and the thickness and porosity tended to decrease as the compression conditions increased. Various characteristics were evaluated to confirm whether it could be used as a separator for water electrolysis. As a result of measuring the mechanical strength, it was confirmed that the tensile strength gradually increased as the compression conditions (temperature and pressure) increased. Finally, it was confirmed that the porous separator manufactured through the alkali resistance test has excellent alkali resistance, and through the IV test, it was confirmed that the membranes compressed at 100℃ and 150℃ had a lower voltage and improved performance than the existing uncompressed membrane.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 2012

In membrane processes, various agents are used to enhance, protect, and recover membrane performance. Applying these agents in membrane modification could potentially be considered as a simple method to improve membrane performance without additional process. Citric acid (CI) and sodium bisulfite (SB) are two chemicals that are widely used in membrane feed water pretreatment and cleaning processes. In this work, preadsorptions of CI and SB were developed as simple methods for polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane modification. It was found that hydrogen bonding and Van Der Waals attraction could be responsible for the adsorptions of CI and SB onto membranes, respectively. After modification with CI or SB, the membrane surfaces became more hydrophilic. Membrane permeability improved when modified by SB while decreased a little when modified by CI. The modified membranes had an increase in PEG and BSA rejections and better antifouling properties with higher flux recovery ratios during filtration of a complex pharmaceutical wastewater. Moreover, membrane chlorine tolerance was elevated after modification with either agent, as shown by the mechanical property measurements.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.273-283
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• 2017

Polysulfone (PSF) is one of an important polymer that has been widely used in the manufacture of asymmetric microfiltration (MF) membranes. PSF membrane is considered as hydrophobic membrane that easily fouled during membrane operation process. The blending method is an effective method for improving the fouling resistance of PSF membranes. sPES (sulfonated polyethersulfone) is one of the useful polymers that can be used in PSF polymer blend method to improve hydrophilicity of PSF membranes. In this study, microfiltration polymer membranes were prepared by using PSF/sPES/PVP/BE/DMF casting solution and water coagulant. The morphology of MF membranes was changed by addition of a small amount of sPES in casting solution. The morphology of the sPES added membranes was changed into a highly asymmetric structure. The active layer grew and mean pore size was decreased by addition of sPES. However, the water flux of PSF/sPES/DMF/PVP/BE membrane was higher than that of PSF/DMF/PVP/BE membrane.