Investigation of Permeability Against Some Metals with a Functional Thiophene Based Polymeric Membrane Sensor

There are many advantages of using membranes in the separation of wastewater, but their uses are limited because they are not reusable due to blockages in the membrane. In this study, alginate‐based poly(ethyl‐methacrylate) (PEMA) polymeric membranes containing previously synthesized IOS, which are known to be selective against Fe 3+ , were prepared and their permeability against heavy metals such as Cd 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , Fe 3+ , Hg 2+ and Pb 2+ were investigated. The properties of membranes characterized by UV‐Vis and FT‐IR spectrophotometry, were investigated with analysis techniques such as SEM, contact angle measurements, TG‐DTG, DSC and AFM. As a result of the measurements taken from the UV spectrophotometer of the filtrates passed through various aqueous ion solutions of the membranes as mentioned above, it was concluded that the ion to which the membrane was most selective was the Fe 3+ ion. Moreover, it could be said that thanks to the repeated filtration processes the membrane prepared retained some Fe 3+ ion in each measurement and could be used many times in the filtration process. Resultantly, it is possible to say that the polymeric Fe 3+ membrane sensor produced may be suitable for use when it is necessary to remove Fe 3+ ion from a polluted aqueous environment.