Fabrication and dialysis performance of functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes integrated cellulose acetate/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) membranes

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) of cellulose acetate/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (CA/PVP) infused with acid functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) were fabricated by an immersion phase separation technique for hemodialysis application. Membranes were characterized using FTIR, water uptake, contact angle, TGA, DMA and SEM analysis. The FTIR was used to confirm the bonding interaction between CA/PVP membrane matrix and f-MWCNTs. Upon addition of f-MWCNTs, TGA thermograms and glass transition temperature indicated improved thermal stability of MMMs. The surface morphological analysis demonstrated revealed uniform distribution of f-MWCNTs and asymmetric membrane structure. The water uptake and contact angle confirmed that hydrophilicity was increased after incorporation of f-MWCNTs. The membranes demonstrated enhancement in water permeate flux, bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection with the infusion of f-MWCNTs; whereas BSA based anti-fouling analysis using flux recovery ratio test shown up to 8.4% improvement. The urea and creatinine clearance performance of MMMs were evaluated by dialysis experiment. It has been found that f-MWCNTs integrated membranes demonstrated the higher urea and creatinine clearance with increase of 12.6% and 10.5% in comparison to the neat CA/PVP membrane. Thus, the prepared CA/PVP membranes embedded with f-MWCNTs can be employed for wide range of dialysis applications.