Title
Synthesis and characterization of low-cost plasticized polymeric membranes for separation of bivalent cations
Authors
SAMIR MESROUK and FATMA SADI

Received August 1, 2023
Published Volume 58 Issue 1-2 January-February
Keywords polymeric membranes, carriers, plasticizer, metals, water purification

Abstract
Recently, polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) have surfaced as a viable solution for selective transport and metallic ions separation. The efficiency of such membranes is subject to a number of factors, including the preparation method and relevant physico-chemical characteristics. In this paper, an improvement of a novel category of PIMs for performing ions separation is reported. The membranes were prepared using a mixture of two polymers: cellulose triacetate (CTA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), three different carriers, Aliquat 336 (basic), di-(2 ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) (acid) and tributyl phosphate (TBP) (neutral) and plasticized by dioctyle phthalate (DOP). All synthesized membranes were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). A study of the transport of Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Pb(II) species using the synthesized membranes was conducted. Our results indicate that facilitated transport through PIMs is an effective way of solving the permanent problem of membrane stability.