An Integral Membrane from A Blend of Quaternized Polyvinyl Alcohol/Chitosan/Polysulfone

Abstract

Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) is a polymer that can be created through the hydrolysis process of polyvinyl acetate. PVA can be applied in various industries such as medical and paper production industries as well as in membrane fabrication for wastewater treatment due to its properties such as good biocompatibility and hydrophilicity and low protein absorption. However, higher performance of PVA is being sought in order to increase the effectiveness of using PVA in the industries. Quaternization technique was introduced to enhance the performance of PVA in term of enhancing the water perm-selectivity, hydrophilicity, and the ionic conductivity of the PVA. This paper demonstrated the production process of quaternized PVA that was then subsequently formulated as integral membrane with a blend with polysulfone and chitosan, and crosslinked with tetraethylorthosilicate. Based on the FTIR analysis and visual observation on the fabricated membrane, it was proven that the quaternized PVA was successfully produced through the modified process. The fabricated membrane has potential to be used in various applications such as wastewater treatment and heavy metal separation. Further research and study on the characterization and performance testing of the integral membrane must be conducted.