Abstract:

In this work, the filtration of methyl orange by polyacrylonitrile-co-poly(2-ethylhexylacrylate) copolymer and polyacrylonitrile-co-poly(2-ethylhexylacrylate)/polyaniline membranes were utilized. It was observed that the filtration performance was improved as acrylonitrile amount in the copolymer increased. Also, functionalizing membrane with polyaniline further enhanced the dye rejection rates. Moreover, this enhancement was proportional to polyaniline amount. Furthermore, the performance of polyaniline containing membranes was pH dependent. They showed higher filtration performances at acidic mediums and they further increased as pH decreased. PAN(92)-co-P2EHA(8)- PANI(10%) membrane provided 99.3% dye rejection value for 25 ppm dye concentration at pH 2. Also, this membrane demonstrated good resistance to permeate concentration. It had 97.6% and 90.1% dye rejection rates for 50 and 100 ppm, respectively.

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