Cellulose Acetate-Microcrystalline Cellulose Blends Membranes for Water Filtration Nasya Rachmadania1, Elya Mufidah1, Yusuf Wibisono1,2*
1Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
2MILI Institute for Water Research, Kawasan Industri Jababeka, Cikarang Utara, Bekasi 17530, Indonesia
Abstract
Indonesia water resources are not match with good water resource management. This can be seen from the high level of water pollution in Indonesia, which causes the availability of clean water to decrease. One of the solutions for clean water management is water filtration using membrane technology. When filtering clean water, the membrane must be made of non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials. Cellulose acetate (CA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) are polymers and solvents with high biocompatibility. However, these two materials have a high tendency to degrade. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is a type of additive that can increase the strength, hydrophilicity and performance of membranes. The aim of this research is to determine the synthesis process and characterization of CA and DMSO based membranes with the addition of MCC additive. The membrane synthesis uses a phase inversion method with a thickness of 0.3 mm. This research uses variations of adding MCC as an additive. The concentrations of MCC used in DMSO solvent are 0 (control), 0.02, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 percent. In the thickness test, the addition of MCC 0.8 percent produces a membrane with the highest thickness value, which is 0.24 mm. The highest tensile strength value was found with the addition of 0.6 percent MCC, which is 0.90 MPa. Meanwhile, the swelling rate test showed that the membrane made with the addition of 0.8 percent MCC had the highest swelling rate, which is 396.34 percent. The water contact angle test shows that the smallest contact angle at 0.4 percent MCC concentration is 56.32 degree, indicating that the membrane is hydrophilic. The best flux value is shown by the MCC with a variation of 0 percent.
Keywords: Cellulose Acetate- Dimethyl Sulfoxide- Membrane- Microcrystalline Cellulose- Water Filtration
