Adsorption and Removal of Composite Contaminants in Water Using Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanofiber Membranes with Polydopamine–Polyethyleneimine Coatings

Abstract

Dye wastewater containing bisphenol A (BPA) and dyes as pollutants has not been adequately studied. Our previous study revealed that thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiber membranes (NFMs) modified by the addition of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polydopamine (PDA) satisfactorily adsorb dyes. Herein, we first optimized the synthesis conditions for such membranes, noting a PEI/PDA monomer ratio of 2:2 and a deposition time of 48 h to be optimal. Experiments using these membranes revealed that binary systems containing BPA and the dyes (Congo red (CR), Eosin yellow (EY), or sunset yellow (SY)) exhibit three adsorption behaviors. CR and BPA compete with each other for adsorption sites, decreasing the maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) for CR 208.3 mg/g (in a monomeric system) to 182.4 mg/g. The adsorption rates for CR and BPA decreased from 0.002 min−1 and 0.331 min−1 in the monomeric systems to 8.37 × 10−4 min−1 and 0.072 min−1, respectively, in the binary CR–BPA system, exhibiting antagonistic effects. When EY and BPA coexisted, Qmax for EY increased from 60.0 (monomeric) to 71.9 mg/g, whereas that for BPA increased from 35.6 to 43.2 mg/g, showing a synergistic effect due to the possible bridging effect. The adsorption sites for SY and BPA are independent of each other. The novelty of this study is the finding that PDA/PEI-TPU NFMS exhibited high adsorption capacity for dyes and BPA in binary composite systems and PDA/PEI-TPU NFMs showed different adsorption patterns for three dye–BPA binary composite systems. The preparation of PDA/PEI-TPU NFMs and the investigation of the adsorption mechanism for dye–BPA binary composite systems are not only of theoretical importance but also provide experimental and data support for practical applications.