Removal of Copper (II) Ion: Effect of Polysulfone Support Thickness

This study was conducted to characterize the industrial wastewater containing Copper (II) ion and to evaluate the effect of different thickness of polysulfone as the support membrane in the fabrication of thin film composite membrane (TFC), on the removal of Copper (II) ion. From the wastewater analysis, it showed that the concentration of copper (II) ion are out of the acceptable range of Environmental Quality (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009. For the TFC, the polysulfone support membrane was prepared at two thicknesses, 60μm and 90μm. For each thickness, two formulations of thin layer were coated on it; i) A polymer blend of Polyvinyl Alcohol and Chitosan, and ii) Hybrid membrane as thin layer. Before undergo the treatment process, the pH of the wastewater sample was altered to 7 as the pre-treatment. The final result shows that composite membrane with hybrid membrane as thin layer with 90μm thickness of polysulfone membrane was the best membrane because it could remove 99.67% of copper (II) ion. Finally, the treated water can be discharged to the groundwater because the concentration of copper ion is less than 1 ppm, which it has fulfilled the Environmental Quality regulations. Keywords— Chitosan, Copper ion, composite membrane, hybrid membrane, industrial wastewater