Synthesis and characterization of composites filtration membranes based on chitosan-poly(ethylene glycol)

We have successfully synthesized chitosan-PEG based composite filtration membranes using solvent evaporation method at composition variation of chitosan and PEG of 2:1 and 3:1. The SEM images showed that synthesized membranes have anisotropic surface morphologies with different pore size and distribution. The range pore size were 0.05-0.30 um and 0.05-0.50 um for ratio of 2:1 and 3:1, respectively. The FTIR spectra confirmed the interaction of chitosan and PEG functional groups in membranes composites which mainly occurred through van der Waal interaction and intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Chitosan-PEG membranes composites (ratio of 3:1) showed the flux (permeability) three times higher than that of 2:1, and rejection efficiency close to 100%. Moreover, these composites membranes exhibited good performance on water purification where the turbidity was notably reduced from 411 to 36 NTU.