Abstract
As a result of the involvement of pollutants in water, there is the need to develop a facile and effective membrane technology that can not only treat dyes, but also kill bacteria in wastewater. In this work, a facile strategy is proposed for the preparation of a nanostructured hybrid membrane based on Polyphenylsulfone containing different ZnO nanoparticle contents. The results confirm that ZnO nanoparticle plays a key role in achieving the efficient removal of soluble anionic dyes from aqueous solution. The optimal membrane exhibits excellent dye rejection approximately 98% with impeccable water flux 19 L/m(2)h; and exhibits antifouling properties, presenting dye-fouled flux recovery ratio> 90%. Moreover, an investigation of antibacterial properties of the material showed that the nanostructured hybrid membrane has good antibacterial properties (nearly 6.2 and 6.8) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, the proposed nanostructured hybrid membrane may provide an efficient for treating dye and bacteria in wastewater.