Hydrophilic modification of a poly(ether sulfone) flat-sheet ultrafiltration membrane applied to coking sewage

In this article, a new modified poly(ether sulfone) flat-sheet ultrafiltration membrane, which is expected to effectively handle coking sewage, was prepared by an immersion precipitation phase-inversion technique to settle the wastewater treatment problem in coking plants. Nanometer TiO2 particle–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) blends were used as additives to modify the membranes by a blending method. The effects of different PEG mass concentrations on the membrane structure and properties were studied. The pure water flux and chemical oxygen demand (COD) rejection rate were analyzed as aggregative indicators by the comprehensive evaluation method, and then, the optimal PEG mass concentration was determined. The results show that the best modified effect was obtained at a PEG mass concentration of 0.25%. When coking sewage in a secondary settling tank was filtered with such membranes, the COD rejection rate reached 90.68%, and the water flux was 127.21 L m−2 h−1. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45149.