TiO2 nanoparticles incorporated high-performance polyphenyl sulfone mixed matrix membranes for ultrafiltration of domestic greywater

The development of nanoparticles (NPs) and their incorporation into the membrane matrix for water and wastewater treatment is an emerging research area in modern times. Greywater (GW) treatment is gaining significant mileage of late owing wide variety of uses in nonpotable domestic and other industrial applications. The present study focuses on the indigenously synthesized titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs and their amalgamation of 1–5% (wt) into polyphenyl sulfone (PPSU) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) i.e., PPSU-T0 to T5 for GW purification by ultrafiltration (UF) process. The 3% (wt) of TiO2-loaded MMMs were optimized based on the results obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 40.20% of porosity, and 31.14 nm pore size by 49.4° contact angle with an outstanding performance of 16.97 MPa tensile strength, besides 10.71% of elongation-at-break, along with 92.59 L/m2 h permeation and 99.43% of bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection with an 89.50% of flux recovery. In addition to this, the optimized membrane exhibited a low fouling tendency with a minimal flux declination, which helps in GW treatment. From the experimental results, the PPSU-T3 achieved a maximum flux of 45.63 L/m2 h, with 80% water recovery by the removal of 95.54% turbidity, 94.20% color, 95.54% TSS and complete E. coli bacterial eradication at an applied pressure of 2 bar. Based on these observations, it can be deduced that the UF membrane played a vital role in GW purification, which can be further extended to desalination, surface water purification, protein concentration, and pre-treatment for nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) applications. The findings of this study; therefore, shall emerge as a viable alternative for freshwater consumption in vulnerable water-scared areas, besides using it in gardening, laundry, washing, and other industrial applications.