Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Polysulfone (PSF)/Organo-Montmorillonite (O-MMT) Nanostructured Membranes

Abstract

Polymeric membranes infused with clays have attracted researchers for it poses a great potential in water treatment applications. In this study, polysulfone (PSF) has been infused with organo-montmorillonite (O-MMT) clay to fabricate membranes through electrospinning and were subjected into different characterizations to find out the effect of adding the clay to the polymer.Four sampleswith different amounts of O-MMT have been fabricated (Pure PSF, 1% O-MMT, 3% O-MMT and 5% O-MMT). The fiber morphology, fiber diameter,surface chemical composition, hydrophobicity, and mechanical properties of these samples were studied. Preliminary investigationhas revealed that shallow pores and smaller fiber diameter were formed with increasing O-MMT concentration. Molecular interaction between the PSF and O-MMT was also revealed through the FT-IR analysis. With regards to contact angle, there are no significant differences between the measurements for each PSF/O-MMT blend. Improvements in the mechanical properties of the samples were also observed as the O-MMT concentration increases.