Nano-curcumin incorporated polyethersulfone membranes for enhanced anti-biofouling in treatment of sewage plant effluent.

Biofouling is a severe problem in membrane systems which hampers their broad applications because it requires regular chemical cleaning, reduces membrane life, and also decreases product quality. In this study, nanocurcumin (CCM) was prepared by sonication-assisted wet-milling technique and then incorporated in polyethersulfone (PES) membrane to enhance the anti-biofouling property. TEM analysis of the curcumin showed that nanomaterials are spherical. FTIR studies confirmed that the presence of CCM nanomaterial in PES membrane. Zone inhibition studies revealed that PES/CCM nanocomposite membranes exhibited the better anti-biofouling propensity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Static adhesion studies also showed that PES/CCM nanocomposite membranes prevented the attachment and proliferation of E. coli cells. Also, PES/2 wt% CCM nanocomposite membrane had a high thermal degradation temperature of 575.62 °C and tensile strength of 1.87 MPa. Moreover, addition of CCM nanomaterial in casting solution altered the membrane morphology and hydrophilicity. Further, pure water flux was increased up to 64.48 L·m-2·h-1 for PES/2 wt% CCM nanocomposite membrane. Filtration of raw sewage treatment plant effluent was also carried out. The incorporation of curcumin in membranes was effectively improved the antifouling tendency without compromised affecting the chemical oxygen demand reduction. This study highlights the anti-biofouling potential of CCM incorporated PES nanocomposite membranes, which could be utilized for various filtration applications.