Use of Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) Membranes in the Ultrafiltration of Aqueous Fe³⁺Solutions by Complexing with Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and Dextran

In this study water soluble complexible polymers, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and dextran, were used for the ultrafiltration (UF) of aqueous Fe+3 solutions by using poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (PMMA-co-MA) membranes. Effects of polymer concentration and pH on the volume collected in the filtration of Fe+3 solutions and percent retentions (R%) were examined. It was determined that increase in polymer concentration decreased the permeability of PMMA-co-MA membrane and pH increased the retention of Fe3+ solutions. R% for Fe3+ solutions were obtained as 62% and 48% with PVP and dextran respectively at pH 3.0, for a filtration period of 80 minutes and retention for Fe3+ solution without using any complex forming polymer was found as 14%. Membranes were characterized by AFM analysis and contact angle measurements. Keywords: Membranespoly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid)retention metal ionsultrafiltrationwater soluble polymers ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank to Gazi University for the support of this work and also G.Ü. Star Lab for the AFM analysis.