High-efficient oil/water separation membrane based on MXene nanosheets by co-incorporation of APTES and amine functionalized carbon nanotubes

Can MXene be the Effective Nanomaterial Family for the Membrane and Adsorption Technologies to Reach a Sustainable Green World?

“…For instance, Saththasivam et al reported a 13% decrease in total flux when sunflower oil was used in feed solution after 8 cycles of filtration with the stable oil rejection of >99% and did not observe any sign of degradation after operation/washing cycles. Similarly, the water flux of the MXene/ACNT/APTES nanocomposite membrane decreased 26% after the 8 th cycle but still had high performance as 2284 L/m 2 × h × bar . Emulsion separation flux of the MXene/ZnO nanocomposite membrane decreased 27% after the 10 th cycle, revealing the high performance as 1838 L/m 2 × h × bar and >99% petroleum ether rejection .…”

“…Promisingly, better performance in terms of total flux was achieved in the combination of MXene with one-dimensional (1D) nanotubes, instead of 2D nanosheets. 272,280 Total flux of lubricating oil-inwater emulsion reached to 4116 L/m 2 × h × bar for MXene/ halloysite nanotube/PDA (2/5/80 mg) 272 and 1887 L/m 2 × h × bar for MXene/aminated-carbon nanotube(ACNT)/APTES (2/10/10 mg) 280 It is claimed in the literature that MXene nanocomposite membranes were effective for the separation oil-in-water emulsions and dyes simultaneously. 279 Accordingly, a new question appeared for researchers: "Can we develop a highly effective nanocomposite membrane to separate multi-component pollutants-oil-in-water emulsion even under harsh conditions?"…”

“…Since the fouling phenomena is a vital factor in the oil-in-water separation membrane due to limiting its durability and long-term operation stability, MXene nanomaterials were offered as a crucial solution to alleviate the fouling problem, utilizing their hydrophilic nature. Great performance was reported for free-standing MXene membranes cross-linked with different agents, , free-standing MXene-based nanocomposite membranes composed of carbon-based nanomaterials and stabilized with cross-linking, ,, and MXene-based adsorbents in the form of sponge and aerogel. − , However, there are a very limited number of studies investigating the oil-in-water separation performance of MXene. Instead, the ones published evidently proved its superior capability of oil-in-water separation even under the more challenging conditions like oil/salt-water emulsion systems as well as oil/dye-water emulsion systems at very harsh environments.…”

“…Since as a result of cross-linking, the membrane pore size was observed in the order of particle size of oil droplets, oil rejection performance was reported greater than 95% due to the blockage of membrane pores with oil droplets. Promisingly, better performance in terms of total flux was achieved in the combination of MXene with one-dimensional (1D) nanotubes, instead of 2D nanosheets. , Total flux of lubricating oil-in-water emulsion reached to 4116 L/m 2 × h × bar for MXene/halloysite nanotube/PDA (2/5/80 mg) and 1887 L/m 2 × h × bar for MXene/aminated-carbon nanotube­(ACNT)/APTES (2/10/10 mg) nanocomposite membranes, exhibiting excellent rejection rates (over 98%).…”

Electrosorption, Desorption, and Oxidation of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids (PFCAs) via MXene-Based Electrocatalytic Membranes

“…MXenes are a group of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials made of transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides that demonstrate outstanding structural flexibility and tunable surface chemistry and garner broad applications in electrochemical energy storage, photocatalysis, photothermal conversion, oil/water separation, , desalination, , gas separation, drug delivery, and electromagnetic interference shielding . MXenes have a typical formula of M n +1 X n T x ( n = 1, 2, 3, or 4), where M is the transition metal, X is carbon, nitrogen, or combinations, and T x represents surface terminating groups of −OH, −O, −F, or −Cl .…”