Conclusions
The amino functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NH2-MWCNTs) embedded polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were prepared through solution casting by phase inversion method. The NH2 functional group displayed good compatibility with MWCNTs and polyethersulfone components. The addition of the modified carbon nanotubes into PES matrix caused an increase in the pure water flux relative to the unfilled membrane due to the enhancement of the membrane hydrophilicity. Antibiofouling characteristic of the nanofiller embedded membranes was also improved. Among the NH2-MWCNTs blended membranes, the 0.1 wt.% membrane represented the highest pure water flux, BSA rejection and flux recovery ratio with excellent antibiofouling property. While the 1 wt.% nanocomposite membrane showed a decrease in the pure water flux because of aggregation of the nanofiller in the membrane surface. As a conclusion, ultrafiltration membrane fabricated by 0.1 wt.% NH2-MWCNTs embedded polyethersulfone had high antibiofouling property and water flux and can be introduced as a suitable membrane in MBRs for high rate biological wastewater treatment.