Treating wastewater contaminated with congo red (CR) dye using an optimized polyethersulfone/propolis (bee glue) PES/PRS ultrafiltration membrane

Abstract

The environment and human health are greatly suffering as a result of pollution. The textile sector is a significant generator of dyes, which are colored chemicals that are among the most significant water pollutants. In order to produce and optimize green mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for the treatment of wastewater discharged from the textile industry, propolis (bee glue) was used as an additive to improve the performance of the PES membrane. This work utilized analysis of variance (ANOVA) and response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the ultrafiltration (UF) process for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with Congo red. Specifically, the primary and interrelated effects of three preparation and operating parameters, additive content, transmembrane pressure, dye feed concentration on the membrane permeate flux, and CR dye rejection using the PES/PRS membrane were examined to optimize the UF process. Transmembrane pressure (1–5 bar), dye concentration (100–300 ppm), and PRS NP content (0–88 mg) were among the factors examined. Optimization results showed that PES/PRS MMMs were the most efficient, with a dye rejection rate of 99.8% and a flux of 48.44 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, at a PRS content of 64.43 mg, operating pressure of 5 bar and CR dye feed concentration of 210.08 ppm. Overall, this research not only shows that innovative PES/PRS UF membranes have the potential to treat wastewater containing dyes very well, but it also offers a useful comprehension of the dye-rejection process, which may direct the logical design of UF membranes. This work showed that the PES/PRS membrane would be a viable option for wastewater industrial applications in terms of its CR dye removal effectiveness under ideal operating circumstances.