Influence of N-phthaloyl chitosan on poly (ether imide) ultrafiltration membranes and its application in biomolecules and toxic heavy metal ion separation and their antifouling properties

N-phthaloyl chitosan (NPHCs), which could be dissolved in various organic solvents, is synthesized for the modification of poly (ether imide) (PEI) ultrafiltration membrane. Blend membrane with 2 wt% NPHCs exhibited higher pure water flux (112.2 l m−2 h−1), higher water content (63.4%) and lower hydraulic resistance (3 kPa/l m−2 h−1). The top surface morphology of the control PEI membrane changed from a dense surface to visible pores with the increase in NPHCs concentration. The surface roughness of PEI membranes increased with an increase in NPHCs concentration in the casting solution. Application studies were carried out to find the rejection and permeate flux of proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), egg albumin (EA), pepsin and trypsin and toxic heavy metal ions such as Cr(III), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II). The result shows that the flux and separation performances are dependent upon the content of NPHCs. Furthermore, the blend membranes were subjected to the determination of pore statistics and MWCO. It was found that the blending of NPHCs into the PEI membrane had a visible effect upon MWCO and pore size. The significant effect of hydrophilicity of NPHCs on the fouling of PEI/NPHCs blend membranes by BSA was also discussed. It was found that the blend membranes with 2 wt% NPHCs content had a higher FRR (88.6%), higher reversible fouling (23.7%) and lower irreversible fouling (11.4%) which explained their improved antifouling properties. Thus, the modified chitosan proved to play an important role in the improvement of UF membrane performance.