One pot blending of biopolymer‐TiO₂ composite membranes with enhanced mechanical strength

Abstract

A biopolymer-TiO 2 composite membrane was prepared by blending of N-[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium) propyl] chloride chitosan and cellulose acetate with nano-TiO 2 particles as the introduced inorganic components. It was verified that the amino groups (ANH 2 ) of chitosan (CTS) were partly grafted by stronger hydrophilic group ACH 2 CH OH ð ÞCH 2 N CH 3 ð Þ 1 3 according to the 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of N-[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium) propyl] chloride chitosan and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The structure, microcosmic morphology, water flux, swelling properties, and thermal stability of the composite membranes were characterized. With the mass ratio of cellulose acetate to CTS being 50 wt %, the mole ratio of CTS to glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride being 1 : 1, and drying temperature being 608C in 70% acetic acid, the formed biopolymer-TiO 2 composite membranes exhibited enhanced mechanical strength (84.29 MPa), lower swelling degree (101.36%), and improved antibacterial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (Rosetta and DH5a) and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. The existence of nano-TiO 2 particles and the introduction of stronger cationic group synergistically improved the antibacterial properties of the biopolymer-TiO 2 composite membranes.

Electrospun polysulfone (PSf)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposite fibers as substrates to prepare thin film forward osmosis membranes

“…As shown in Fig. (a), the typical spectrum of TiO 2 at 3380 cm −1 increased gradually with increasing TiO 2 content in substrates …”

Fabrication of cellulose acetate/polybenzoxazine cross-linked electrospun nanofibrous membrane for water treatment

“…However, their thermal and mechanical properties need to be enhanced for the application especially in harsh conditions. Although, several attempts have been done to enhance the filtration efficiency (membrane surface hydrophilicity, water permeability, fouling resistance, etc) of cellulose acetate membranes by blending with other polymers (Sun & Chen, 2016;Ahmad et al, 2016;Yin et al, 2016;Razzaghi, Safekordi, Tavakolmoghadam, Rekabdar & Hemmati, 2014;Shenvi, Ismail & Isloor, 2014;Radha, Shobana, Tarun & Mohan, 2014;Kumari, Sarkhel & Choudhury, 2013), nanoparticles (Arthanareeswaran, Devi & Raajenthiren, 2008;Goh, Ng, Lau & Ismail, 2015), grapheneoxide (Safarpour, Khataee & Vatanpour, 2015;Hegab & Zou, 2015;Chae et al, 2015), carbon nanotubes (Sabir et al, 2015;El Badawi, Ramadan, Esawi & El-Morsi, 2014;Choi et al, 2015) and epoxy resins (Mahendran, Malaisamy & Mohan, 2004;Mahendran, Malaisamy & Mohan, 2002), a few studies were reported to show enhancement of thermal stability or/and mechanical properties of cellulose acetate membranes (Persson, Gekas & Trägårdh, 1995;Ebert, Fritsch, Koll & Tjahjawiguna, 2004;Corobea et al, 2016;Huang, Li, Liu & Zhang, 2015;El-Din, El-Gendi, Ismail, Abed & Ahmed, 2015;Ahmad et al, 2015;Dasgupta et al, 2014;Abedini et al, 2011). In these studies, inorganic nanomaterials or carbon nanotubes were used as a nanofiller for the enhancement of thermal/mechanical properties.…”

Fabrication of silk fibroin film with properties of thermal insulation and temperature monitoring

“…But it is worth mentioning that the film incorporated with 2.0% thermochromic microcapsules is still relatively more flexible when compared to the neat one. It has been reported that the addition of fillers, such as particles or fibers as a reinforcing phase to improve the flexibility of matrix materials . In the present study, the particles of thermochromic microcapsules could act effectively as reinforcement fillers to enhance the compliance (tensile strength and the elongation at break) of the silk fibroin film.…”