Performance of commercial polyamide membranes in pervaporation for dye removal: Impact of dye classes, colors, and surfactants

BACKGROUND Water reclamation in the textile industry is essential to reduce environmental impacts associated with high water consumption and pollutant discharge. Among emerging technologies, pervaporation (PV) has gained attention due to its high selectivity and efficiency in contaminant removal. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the performance of commercial polyamide (PA) membranes when exposed to different dye classes, colors, and complex feed conditions. This study aims to evaluate the performance of a commercial PA membrane in PV for treating dye‐containing wastewater, considering various dye classes and operational parameters. RESULTS The study was conducted in sequential stages, including optimization of PV operating conditions for reactive, direct, disperse, and acid black dyes, followed by investigation of chromophore group effects using different colored dyes. Additionally, dye mixtures and surfactants were introduced to simulate real textile effluents. The PA membrane exhibited lower permeate fluxes compared to vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) and membrane distillation (MD) reported in the literature. Nevertheless, it achieved outstanding color rejection, consistently exceeding 98% across all tested conditions. Characterization techniques such as SEM, EDX, and ATR‐FTIR revealed insights into dye deposition, fouling behavior, and membrane structural integrity after operation. CONCLUSION The results demonstrate that PA membranes in PV processes offer excellent selectivity for dye removal, mainly governed by the solution‐diffusion mechanism. Despite lower flux performance, the high rejection rates and stability highlight the strong potential of this approach for textile wastewater treatment and industrial water reuse applications.