Binary metal oxides incorporated polyethersulfone ultrafiltration mixed matrix membranes for the pretreatment of seawater desalination

Abstract

In this study, an attempt was made to pretreat seawater using polyethersulfone (PES) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) incorporated with titania-based binary metal oxides. Two different titania-based binary metal oxides were prepared, namely titania-zirconia (TiZr) and titania-zinc oxide (TiZn). The influence of hydrophilic and negatively charged sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) polymer as additive of PES MMMs was also studied. Morphological and elemental analysis revealed that both ZrO 2 and ZnO were well dispersed in the as-prepared binary metal oxide TiZr and TiZn, respectively.. Thermogravimetry analysis indicated the good compatibility of TiZr and TiZn with the SPEEK/PES polymer. The binary metal oxide incorporated SPEEK/ PES MMMs exhibited improved hydrophilic properties with a low water contact angle of 57 ± (0.6). SPEEK/PES MMMs incorporated with 0.5 wt% TiZr exhibited the highest permeability of 3.11 × 10 −7 ± (0.2) m/sÁkPa. Seawater pretreatment performance of membranes evaluated using natural organic matters containing high salinity feed water. TiZr and TiZn incorporated SPEEK/ PES MMMs exhibited 95% rejection for humic acid. SPEEK/PES MMMs loaded with 0.5 wt% TiZr also showed the highest water flux and 87% water recovery within 90 min of seawater filtration. Both PES/SPEEK/TiZr and PES/SPEEK/ TiZn MMMs exhibited superior antibacterial activity.

Proton conducting membrane based on multifunctional interconnected copolymer containing 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane‐aminoethyl piperazine with sulfonated polyethersulfone membrane for fuel cell application

“…The functional group analysis of pristine, AEP, DDM, and AEP@DDM intermixed membranes was characterized by using FTIR analysis, and their spectra were illustrated in Figure 5. In SPES membranes, the peaks at 1151 and 1238 cm −1 corresponds to the sulfone group and aromatic ether band respectively and the peaks at 1485 and 1577 cm −1 were attributed to the C═C stretching 28 . Besides, with the sulfonation, the appearance of an absorption band at 1027 cm −1 represents the symmetric stretching vibration of sulfonate group 29 .…”

Progress of polyethersulfone composites and their applications in biomedical engineering

“…1b). 35 Except for TiO 2 , other metal oxides such as zinc oxide (ZnO) 36,37 and Zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) 38 or metal sulfides such as cadmium sulfide (CdS) 39 were also employed as fillers for PES based MMMs in a similar way. However, despite the enhancement in antibacterial property, the water flux was usually decreased because of the pore plugging by nanoparticles especially under high mass loading.…”

A review on sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) based‐membrane in direct borohydride fuel cell applications

“…Furthermore, antibacterial tests revealed that PES/‐SPEEK/TiZr as well as PES/SPEEK/TiZn MMMs have superior biofouling resistance. For successful seawater pretreatment, SPEEK/PES MMM integrated hydrophilic binary metal oxide could be employed in combination UF‐RO as well as other salinity systems 145 …”

“…This is because the SPEEK-ZrN nanohybrid membrane that has been constructed is a potential option for DMFC applications. 144 Lukka Thuyavan et al 145 produced TiO 2 ZrO 2 and TiO 2 ZnO based on hydrophilic titania, which they then put into a SPEEK/PES framework, resulting in better anticancer characteristics for seawater desalination. By increasing the loading of TiZr as well as TiZn, the hydrophilic characteristics including water resistance of the resultant membranes were also enhanced.…”

“…For successful seawater pretreatment, SPEEK/ PES MMM integrated hydrophilic binary metal oxide could be employed in combination UF-RO as well as other salinity systems. 145 SPEEK as linear constituents and praseodymium oxide (PSO) as nano additives were used to create a new series of polymer nanocomposite membranes. The SP-PSO-10 membrane has a 36.3% water uptake capacity, but the pure membrane only had 28.8%.…”