POLYAMIDE66/NATIONAL BENTONITE CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES MEMBRANES FOR WATER-OIL SEPARATION

Membranes can be defined as polymer film that acts as a semipermeable barrier to filtration in a molecular scale, separating two phases. In this work, microporous membranes were obtained from hybrid organic/inorganic polyamide66 (PA66) and clay mineral from Paraiba State, treated with a quaternary ammonium salt in order to make it organophilic. The membranes in the form of thin films were prepared by immersion-precipitation technique from the nanocomposites obtained by solution, with a pre-determined reaction time of 2 h, with characteristics suitable to be used in microfiltration process for separation of the oil present in water. Samples of natural and organophilic clay were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Meanwhile, the membranes were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of FRX and FTIR confirmed the presence of quaternary ammonium salt in the clay structure after treatment with organic salt. Through DSC analysis it was observed almost no change in the melting temperature of the pure polyamide66 membranes. By SEM, it was revealed an asymmetric morphology consisting of a skin layer and a porous sublayer, showing the pore size distribution appropriated to water-oil separation.