Mussel‐inspired method to decorate commercial nanofiltration membrane for heavy metal ions removal

Abstract

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes have been widely used for the treatment of electroplating, aerospace, textile, pharmaceutical, and other chemical industries. In this work, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were directly anchored on the surface of commercial nanofiltration (NF) membrane by dopamine modification following advantageous bio‐inspired methods. SEM and AFM images were used to characterize the HNTs decorated membrane surface in terms of surface morphology and roughness. Water contact angle (WCA) was employed in evidencing the incorporation of HNTs and dopamine in terms of hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity. Augmentation of HNTs was found to obviously enhance the hydrophilicity and surface roughness resulting in improved water permeability of membrane. More importantly, the rejection ratios of membrane also increased during the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater. The permeability and Cu2+ rejection ratio of modified NF membrane were as high as 13.9 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and 74.3%, respectively. Incorporation of HNTs was also found to enhance the anti‐fouling property and stability of membrane as evident from long‐term performance tests. The relative concentration of HNTs and dopamine on membrane surface was optimized by investigating the trade‐off between water permeability and rejection ratio.

Fabrication of the polyethersulfone/functionalized mesoporous carbon nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane for dyes and heavy metal ions removal: Experimental and quantum mechanical simulation method

“…Membrane filtration by proposing many advantages over other typical approaches (e.g., low cost, high separation efficiency, environmentally friendly character, and easy operation) can be regarded as an effective water purification method 7,8 . Due to high flux, selectivity, and unique separation mechanisms (consisting of the Donnan effect and size exclusion) nanofiltration (NF) has attracted the growing attention of researchers for effective elimination of multivalent ions and small‐scale molecular contaminations 9 . However, membrane fouling is still the main bottleneck that restricts the development of NF membranes for long‐term performance 10 .…”

Novel Mixed Matrix Membranes Based on Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity PIM-1 Modified with Metal-Organic Frameworks for Removal of Heavy Metal Ions and Food Dyes by Nanofiltration

“…The intensive development of nanofiltration leads to the use of various polymeric membrane materials. Currently, membranes are being developed based on various polymers, for example: cellulose and its derivatives [2,3], polyamide and its derivatives [4], cellophane [5], polyimide [6], copolymers of 1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne with 1-(3,3,3trifluoropropyldimethylsilyl)1-propyne [7], polysulfone [8], polyethersulfone [9], polymer of intrinsic microporosity PIM-1 [10,11], poly [1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] [11][12][13][14][15], and commercially available membranes [16][17][18][19].…”

Novel antifouling nanofiltration PES membranes incorporating with C‐KIT‐6 for heavy metal ions removal

“…Although reverse osmosis (RO) is regarded as an efficient method to remove heavy metal ions from water, it suffers from severe fouling and high operational pressure which increases energy consumption 8 . High permeability, the lower energy demand, and operational costs of NF membranes coupled with reasonable rejection make it the promising and energy‐saver method for heavy metal ion removal 9,10 . The removal of heavy metal ions by NF membranes is governed by their specific rejection mechanisms of Donnan electrostatic repulsion and steric exclusion 5,11 .…”

“…8 High permeability, the lower energy demand, and operational costs of NF membranes coupled with reasonable rejection make it the promising and energy-saver method for heavy metal ion removal. 9,10 The removal of heavy metal ions by NF membranes is governed by their specific rejection mechanisms of Donnan electrostatic repulsion and steric exclusion. 5,11 Consequently, NF membranes have been an ongoing endeavor for the treatment of wastewater containing heavy metal ions.…”