Journal of Applied Sciences1812-56541812-5662Asian Network for Scientific Information10.3923/jas.2010.2628.2632RaslanR. MohammadA.W. 1220101021Membrane fouling phenomenon is a major problem for efficient use of ultrafiltration membranes and resulted in reduction of throughput and performance. Hence, an attempt has been made to develop a low-fouling membrane material by blending polymers. Blending of polysulfone (PSU) and Pluronic F127 was carried out to prepare membranes with hydrophilic and low-fouling property. PSU and Pluronic F127 were blended in 100/0, 90/10 and 80/20 compositions using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) as solvent and membranes were prepared by the phase inversion technique. The membrane morphologies were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed an asymmetric morphology of PSU/Pluronic F127 membranes. The static contact angles of blend membranes were measured using a contact angle goniometer. The decrease of static water contact angle with an increase in Pluronic F127 content indicated an increase of surface hydrophilicity. The stability of Pluronic F127 in blend membranes was evaluated by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (ATR-FTIR). The results analysis confirmed that Pluronic F127 could exist stably in blend membranes. The permeation flux of pure water under different pressures was investigated. It was found that blend membranes have higher permeability than that of PSU-control membrane.]]>Arthanareeswaran, G., D. Mohan and M. Raajenthiren,200725387058712Belfer, S., R. Fainchtain, Y. Purinson and O. Kedem,2000172113124Dal-Cin, M.M., F. McLellan, C.N. Striez, C.M. Tam, T.A. Tweddle and A. Kumar,199612273285Lv, C., Y. Su, Y. Wang, X. Ma, Q. Sun and Z.Y. Jiang,20072946874Menaham, K., M. Heisler, I. Katsnelson and D. Velazques,1990pp: 964-990pp: 964-990Rahimpour, A. and S.S. Madaeni,2007305299312Richard, B.W., T.A. Doneva and H.B. Yin,2001181253263Sivakumar, M., D.R. Mohan and R. Rangarajan,2006268208219Wang, W.K.,2001Wang, Y., Y. Su, Q. Sun, X. Ma and Z. Jiang,20062824451Zhao, W., Y. Su, C. Li, Q. Shi, X. Ning and Z. Jiang,2008318405412