Pes polymer

The ultrafiltration membranes were made using the PES polymer with a molecular weight of 58 kDa obtained from BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany). PVP (molecular weight, MW: 360 kDa) was procured from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) and used as an additive. Potassium chloride (KCl) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) were purchased from Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA, USA). The discrete TiO₂ NTs were synthesized using an electrochemical anodization process followed by sonication for discretization. Diethylene glycol (DEG) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich to be used as an electrolyte in electrochemical anodization. Octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA) to functionalize discrete nanotubes was also indented from Sigma Aldrich. An industrial wastewater, produced from steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in the Athabasca oil sands industry (AB, Canada) was used for the membrane permeation and fouling characteristics tests. The produced water is the feed water to the warm lime softener (WLS) of current SAGD water treatment facilities.

PES polymer (MW 58,000 g/mol) was purchased from BASF Co., Germany. TiO₂ nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) (Anatase with MW 79.88 g/mol and 98.0% pure), Methylene Blue (MW 373.9 g/mol), and Congo Red (MW 696.68 g/mol) were purchased from Daejung, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea. 1.4-Dioxane and aluminum chloride were purchased from CARLO ERBA Reagents (Le Vaudreuil, France). N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄), sodium chloride (NaCl), methanol, ethanol, propanol, and hexane (analytical reagent grade) were bought from SIGMA ALDRICH, Hamburg, Germany. Hydrochloric acid (HCL), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium arsenate and chromium chloride were purchased from SIGMA ALDRICH, USA. Rose Bengal (MW 1017.65 g/mol) was obtained from Applichem Panreac, Germany. Deionized (DI) water produced in the laboratory was used during experimentation and analysis.