The effect of operating conditions on the retention of Toluidine blue by polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration

Abstract

In the present work, we study the effect of experimental conditions on the performance of polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration for the removal of Toluidine blue from aqueous solution. The dye solution was processed by ultrafiltration using a regenerate cellulose membrane with pore sizes small enough to block the passage of the polymer and then the complexed dye ions. The experiments showed that retentions as high as 99% and 97% were obtained for PAA and PANH₄, respectively, due to the strong electrostatic interaction between anionic polyelectrolytes and cationic dye. The increase of retention was linked to the complexation of the dye by polyelectrolyte while the decrease of the permeate flux was attributed to the accumulated macromolecular complex near the membrane.

Keywords:

• Poly (acrylic acid)
• Toluidine blue
• Polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration
• Dye removal

Notes

Presented at the 4th Maghreb Conference on Desalination and Water Treatment (CMTDE 2013) 15–18 December 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia