• Doping of FSP in polymer matrix membrane; involving dissolution casting methodology • FSP is used as an additive to inflate salt rejection properties.• Mechanical properties augmented for PMCM • Uniform dispersion of FSP on PMCM posing dense structure observed in SEM micrographs a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Novel polymer matrix composite membranes of cellulose acetate (CA)/polyethylene glycol (PEG) doped with 10-30 wt.% fumed silica particles (FSP) were synthesized. The dissolution casting methodology was used to construct reverse osmosis (RO) membrane which accounts the explicit application for desalination process. The interactions between polymer chains and doped FSP were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms support the physical nature of polymer matrix composite membranes (PMCMs) and an improved glass transition temperature (T g ) from 78.3 to 92.4°C was observed. The thermal stability of the composite membranes significantly enhanced with the addition of FSP. The typical morphology of PMCM was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The 30 wt.% of FSP filled PMCM showed substantial improvement in tensile strength (8.2 MPa) and Young's modulus (854.0 MPa) as compared to the PMCM without FSP. The percentage water content (WC) of the membrane doped with 30 wt.% FSP absorbed more water as compared to the other membranes. It was also noticed that the FSP doped PMCM enhanced the desalination process which was monitored in terms of permeation flux (L/m 2 ·h) and salt rejection (%). The optimum performance of desalination process was shown by 30 wt.% FSP doped PMCM; the permeation flux was 0.66 L/m 2 ·h and salt rejection was 98.4% for the initial feed of 0.35 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution at 25°C and operating pressure of 4.0 bar (osmotic pressure 2.9 bar).
Citrus fruit processing industries produce a vast quantity of waste materials as peel and pulp that are not handled properly. In present study, waste generated from citrus has been used for extraction of cellulose and nanocellulose. The aggregated cellulose, derived after alkaline treatment, was acid hydrolysed; resulted in reduction of the size of cellulose fibre. The cellulose showed amorphous structure revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Scanning electron microscopy analysis explained densely packed structure of nanocellulose. High magnification revealed break points in cellulose fibre due to acidic treatment; looked like carbon nanotubes. The simple solubility test demonstrated that different solvents had different effects on the dissolution of nanocellulose. The study reveals that citrus peel is also a good candidate of cellulose that can be utilised for different applications.
This study is based upon the functionalization of polypropylene (PP) by radical polymerization to optimize its properties by influencing its molecular weight. Grafting of PP was done at different concentrations of maleic anhydride (MAH) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO). The effect on viscosity during and after the reaction was studied by torque rheometer and melt flow index. Results showed that a higher concentration of BPO led to excessive side-chain reactions. At a high percentage of grafting, lower molecular weight product was produced, which was analyzed by viscosity change during and after the reaction. Percentage crystallinity increased by grafting due to the shorter chains, which consequently led to an improvement in the chain’s packing. Prepared Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAH-g-PP) enhanced interactions in PP-PET blends caused a partially homogeneous blend with less voids.
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