High flux of polyethersulfone (PES) nanofiltration (NF) membrane was fabricated with triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 as additive using a special casting machine by phase inversion method for dye concentration and desalination. The effects of additive content in the casting solution

solvent evaporation temperature and evaporation time during membrane fabrication on the structure and performance of the PES NF membrane were examined

and the separation performance of the PES NF membrane for dyes at different operation pressure and temperature was investigated. The scanning microscopy observation

contact angle test

porosity data and protein adsorption test show that the pore structure of the membrane is improved

its porosity and antifouling performance are enhanced with the addition of Pluronic F127. Pure water flux

rejection and membrane surface pore size characterization indicate that with the Pluronic F127 content in the caste solution at 3%

the solvent evaporation temperature at 90℃ and the solvent evaporation time at 18 s

the fabricated membrane presents the best separation performance. The rejection of the PES NF membrane for Eriochrome Black T is 99%

with a flux of 110.2 L·m-2·h-1

while the rejection for NaCl is only 5.5% at 0.6 MPa. The desalination and purification experiment exhibits that the rejection for the dye remains over 99% throughout the whole experiment

indicating that the PES NF membranes could be successfully applied in the dye purification and desalination process.