Effects of coagulation bath temperature and polyvinylpyrrolidone content on flat sheet asymmetric polyethersulfone membranes

In this study, effects of coagulation bath temperature (CBT) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K15) concentration as a pore former hydrophilic additive on morphology and performance of asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were investigated. The membranes were prepared from a PES/ethanol/NMP system via phase inversion induced by immersion precipitation in a water coagulation bath. The morphology of prepared membranes was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurements, and mechanical property measurements. Permeation performance of the prepared membranes was studied by separation experiments using pure water and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution as feed. The obtained results indicate that addition of PVP in the casting solution enhances pure water permeation flux and BSA solution permeation flux while reducing protein rejection. Increasing CBT results in macrovoid formation in the membrane structure and increases the membrane permeability and decreases the protein rejection. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers