Preparation of polysulfonebenzylthiourea-reactive ultrafiltration plate membranes and their rejection properties for heavy toxic metal cations

The asymmetric membranes were prepared via phase inversion method, by using chloromethyl polysulfone as membrane materials, polyethylene glycol (PEG) as pore forming agent to improve the morphology and function of resultant membranes, N,N-dimethylacetamide as solvent, and water as the extraction solvent. Then the highly qualified polysulfonebenzylthiourea-reactive ultrafiltration plate membrane was prepared successively through the reactions between the chloromethyl polysulfone matrix membrane and thiourea. The thiourea-functionalized polysulfone plate reactive ultrafiltration membrane was used for the rejection of heavy toxic metal cations such as Cd²⁺ and Zn²⁺ through the coordination of the thiourea group and heavy toxic metal cations, in which the effects of the morphological and the structure of the membrane on the rejection properties were investigated. The rejection conditions, including the concentration of heavy toxic metal cations, temperature and pH of the solution had significant effects on the rejection capacity of polysulfonebenzylthiourea-reactive ultrafiltration membrane. The reactive ultrafiltration membrane containing thiourea group can be conveniently recovered by dilute hydrochloric acid for coordination of heavy toxic metal cations, which would have wide application for the treatment of waste-water-containing heavy toxic metal cations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008