Influence of Different Carriers in Polymer Inclusion Membranes for Desalination of Seawater

Abstract

Desalination of seawater using various polymer inclusion membranes was carried out. Polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) is known to have the highest stability, able to overcome liquid membrane instability and was placed in between two phases: the source phase is seawater and the receiving phase is the micro-filtered water. Determination of salinity levels in the feed phase and the receiving phase was carried out using a salinity meter, while membrane characterization was done using FTIR and SEM techniques. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based PIM membranes were prepared using different single and mixed synergtic carriers ratio of 1:1 viz. dibutyl ether, methyltrioctylammonium chloride (Aliquat 336), di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phosphate (D2EHPA), thenoyl trifluoroacetone (HTTA), tributyl phosphate (TBP) and eugenol (PE). The results showed the salinity value for single HTTA carriers had a greater salinity value in comparison to mixed carriers (HTTA:TBP; HTTA:Aliquat; D2EHPA:TBP; and D2EHPA:Aliquat) gave different salinity value towards the desalination process.