Fabrication and characterization of novel polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membranes for separation of Cr(VI) from wastewater

Hexavalent chromium is one of the major heavy metals. As the environmental legislation becomes increasingly strict, looking for new technology to treat hexavalent chromium is becoming more and more important. In this research, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole was used to blend polyvinylidene fluoride to prepare a modified membrane that could be applied to adsorb and purify water containing hexavalent chromium. The membrane performance was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and water contact angle measurements. The experimental results showed that the pure water flux of the membrane was 255.57l/m(2) h, the contact angle was 80.1 degrees, and the adsorption capacity of chromium ion was 241 mu g/cm(2). The polyvinylidene fluoride-modified membrane presented better adsorption abilities for chromium ion than that of the traditional polyvinylidene fluoride membrane.