Arabic gum as a novel pore-forming and hydrophilic agent in polysulfone membranes

In this study, novel polysulfone (PS) membranes blended with Arabic Gum (AG) as pore forming agent were prepared via phase inversion technique. The performances of the newly synthesized PS/AG membranes cast at different AG contents (0.1-3.0 wt%) in dope solutions were examined for their surface morphology, cross-section, surface charge density, hydrophilicity, and mechanical strength using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential, contact angle measurements and tensile testing, respectively. The antifouling properties of PS/AG membranes were evaluated during filtration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions while the antibacterial tests were assessed using Escherichia coli bacteria. The addition of AG to the casting solutions displayed a remarkable enhancement on PS membrane hydrophilicity, surface charge, flux, rejection and antibacterial properties. The prepared PS membranes cast with 3 wt% AG possessed high oil rejection and BSA flux recovery of about 98% and 80% respectively. In addition, the mechanical properties of the cast membrane increased by 52% compared to the pristine PS membrane. Overall, this study shows that, AG is promising additives that can be used for fabrication of ultrafiltration membranes with improved performance for water treatment applications.