Evaluation of Polymer Inclusion Membrane Containing Copoly Eugenol Divinyl Benzene 10% as a Carrier for Phenol Transport

Abstract

Phenol is a toxic and organic compound that often contaminates water, posing significant environmental hazards. To resolve this issue, we conducted research on phenol transport using the Polymer Inclusion Membrane (PIM) method, employing Copoly Eugenol Divinyl Benzene (Co-EDVB) 10% as a carrier compound. The primary objective of this research was to assess the stability and capability of the PIM membrane. Our findings revealed that membrane stability was achieved with a plasticizer concentration of 3.32%. The addition of NaNO₃ salt to the source phase yielded the most promising outcomes compared to other types of salt, facilitating the transport of 85.84% of phenol. When NaNO₃ 0.01 M was introduced in both the source and receiving phases, the transport efficiency increased to 89.93% and 86.76%, respectively. In order to evaluate the durability of the PIM membrane during repeated use, transportation experiments were conducted five times. Without washing, the membrane successfully transported phenol in amounts of 72.19%, 69.23%, 62.71%, 55.91%, and 48.16% during each successive run. Conversely, with regular washing, the membrane maintained its transport efficiency, achieving 70.85%, 64.10%, 56.72%, 49.26%, and 27.19% for each cycle. Notably, the membrane's lifetime reached only 29 days without the addition of 0.1 M NaNO₃ salt. However, with the inclusion of NaNO₃ 0.1 M salt, its longer extended to 58 days.