Preparation and characterization of polyethersulfone mixed matrix membranes embedded with Ti- or Zr-incorporated SBA-15 materials

Functionalized SBA-15 mesoporous materials were newly developed and embedded as inorganic additive into polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. Doping the SBA-15 mesoporous materials improved membrane permeability without significant change in morphological structure of PES membrane. However, low dosage of SBA-15 of 0.3 wt.% increased fouling rate of PES membrane with BSA compound. The fouling potential in PES membrane was reduced by increasing concentration of SBA-15 materials to 0.6 wt.%. Antifouling properties of PES membrane were associated with lower BSA membrane adsorption due to the improvement of membrane hydrophilicity by SBA-15 addition.