Novel poly (ionic liquid)-based anion exchange membranes for efficient and rapid acid recovery from industrial waste
Abstract Owing to the less energy consumption, positive impact on the environment, and prospect of providing clean water resources, anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are promising materials for acid recovery from various industrial wastewater/effluent. Based on the diffusion dialysis process, AEMs selectively allow rapid proton permeation while efficiently retaining metal ions. To enhance the efficiency of the acid recovery process, precise control of macromolecular architecture and chemical composition that enables high hydrophilicity, proton conductivity through the membrane, and ion exchange capacity is required. In this direction, we report on the one-step fabrication of novel poly (ionic…
Modification of the Selectivity Properties of Tubular Ceramic Membranes after Alkaline Treatment
International audience; This work focuses on the selectivity modification of ceramic membranes after a mild alkaline treatment. Filtration of pure saltwater solutions was carried out with commercial titania membranes before and after the treatment. After treatment, the rejection of NaF significantly decreased, while the rejection of NaCl and NaBr increased. Additionally, NaI and Na 2 SO 4 remained close to zero. Pore size and electrical charge being almost unchanged, only significant modifications in the dielectric effects can explain this modification of selectivity. Therefore, the surface chemistry and the interaction (nature and magnitude) with the solvent and with the species present in…
Understanding the impact of poly(allylamine) plasma grafting on the filtration performances of a commercial polymeric membrane
Abstract Commercial membranes often exhibit difficulties in rejecting specific ionic species, and especially multivalent cations, due to their usual negative charge. To face this drawback, it is proposed here to functionalize the membrane surface by allylamine plasma polymerization. The impact of this modification on both permeation flux and ion rejection is investigated for single salt solutions and ion mixtures. It is shown that the membrane behaves like a positive membrane from the point of view of cation rejection but the negative charge (and the corresponding electrical field) inside pores leads to high rejection of divalent anions like a negative membrane. This allows a high selectivi…
Modification of commercial UF membranes by electrospray deposition of polymers for tailoring physicochemical properties and enhancing filtration performances
Abstract The main challenge for a widespread use of nanoporous membranes in the removal of ionic contaminants lies in the adjustment of their physicochemical properties to allow adequate ion rejection and mitigate fouling based on the targeted application. Most of the commercial membranes are negatively charged and their use is thus not necessarily relevant for divalent cation rejection. The main objective for researchers is therefore to provide novel tailored membranes by developing specific synthesis or modifying available membranes. It is proposed here to tailor physicochemical properties of a commercial low molecular weight cut-off ultrafiltration membrane by electrospray deposition of …
Electrospun nanofibers: role of nanofibers in water remediation and effect of experimental variables on their nano topography and application processes
Water is the elixir of life and the most elementary need for the survival of human beings on planet Earth. With rapid industrialization, globalization and human exploitation, natural water resources are diminishing at a startling rate wherein availability of potable water has drastically decreased in recent times and hence membrane technology is a highly pursued area for water purification. The simple and cost-effective electrospinning technique has evolved to be a state-of-the-art method for developing nanofibers of tailored thickness and diameters by combining a broad range of starting materials. This comprehensive review emphasizes on the demonstration of electrospun nanofibers based on …
Application of a new dynamic transport model to predict the evolution of performances throughout the nanofiltration of single salt solutions in concentration and diafiltration modes.
Although many knowledge models describing the rejection of ionic compounds by nanofiltration membranes are available in literature, they are all used in full recycling mode. Indeed, both permeate and retentate streams are recycled in order to maintain constant concentrations in the feed solution. However, nanofiltration of real effluents is implemented either in concentration or diafiltration modes, for which the permeate stream is collected. In these conditions, concentrations progressively evolve during filtration and classical models fail to predict performances. In this paper, an improvement of the so called "Donnan Steric Pore Model", which includes both volume and concentration variat…
Preparation of novel high permeability and antifouling polysulfone-vanillin membrane
International audience; A novel high-performance nanofiltration membrane was fabricated by a simple and scalable route involving in situ cross-linking of hydrophilic, cheap, and environmentally friendly vanillin as antifouling agent with polysulfone (PSf) for salt rejection performance. Vanillin acts as a porogen, which induces a negative surface charge on the membrane surface due to the presence of polar functional groups like alcohol and aldehyde. The surface properties, including charge, morphology, and hydrophilicity, were investigated in detail using analytical instruments. The nanofiltration performance of the fabricated PSf-vanillin membranes was dependent on the percentage of vanill…
Remediation of Solutions Containing Oxyanions of Selenium by Ultrafiltration: Study of Rejection Performances with and without Chitosan Addition
Among the various technical options for removing ionic contaminants from wastewaters, membrane processes and especially their coupling with polymer addition have been proven to provide worthwhile prospects for the removal of metal cations. Nevertheless, their use for the removal of anionic pollutants such as oxyanions has been little studied in the literature. In the present work, the rejection of oxyanions forms of Se(IV) and Se(VI) by tight ultrafiltration membranes was deeply investigated under various experimental conditions. This paper aims at understanding the mechanisms governing oxyanion rejection and determining the potential ways to improve performances. It is first shown that sel…
Novel modified poly vinyl chloride blend membranes for removal of heavy metals from mixed ion feed sample
Herein, an attempt has been made to prepare a novel membrane with good efficiency for removal of heavy metal ions namely lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and chromium (Cr). 4-amino benzoic acid (ABA) was covalently grafted onto the poly vinyl chloride (PVC) backbone by CN bond to enhance the hydrophilicity. 1H NMR and ATR-IR spectroscopy analysis confirmed the chemical modification of PVC. Further the modified polymer was blended in different compositions with polysulfone (PSf) for optimization. Morphological changes that occurred in blend membranes, due to the incorporation of modified PVC was studied by AFM and SEM techniques. The effect on hydrophilicity and performance of blends owing to incorpo…
The efficient mixed matrix antifouling membrane for surfactant stabilized oil-in-water nanoemulsion separation
Abstract Membrane technology has raised considerable interest in sustainable water purification over the past decade. The development of antifouling membranes is always the basic approach to address the omnipresent bottlenecks of the membrane fouling. In this study, AlSi2O6 nanoparticles were synthesized using a coprecipitation technique and their influence was investigated on the permeation and antifouling properties of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes of polysulfone (PSF). A series of membranes were fabricated with various concentrations (such as 0.0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 wt%) of AlSi2O6 nanoparticles through diffusion induced phase separation method. The prepared composite membranes demonstrate …
Understanding the separation of anion mixtures by TiO2 membranes: Numerical investigation and effect of alkaline treatment on physicochemical properties
Abstract Mechanisms governing the rejection of ions from multi-ionic solutions, and especially the selectivity between various anions are not fully understood at the present time. In this study, it is proposed, in a first part, to investigate the evolution of electric and dielectric exclusion mechanisms when anions are mixed in a solution. For this purpose, the volumetric membrane charge Xd and the dielectric constant of the solution confined within pores ep are numerically assessed from rejection curves with a classic transport model. This study highlights that the rejection of the various anions is differently governed by electric and dielectric mechanisms but their contribution to mixtur…
Effect of hydraulic coefficient on membrane performance for rejection of emerging contaminants
International audience; The efficient removal of Endocrine Disruptive Chemicals (EDCs) namely oxybenzone and atrazine using polysulfone (PSf) composite membranes is reported in this article. A negatively charged hydrophilic mixed matrix membrane was prepared by using Polyaniline modified halloysite nanotubes (PANi-HNT) and polysulfone. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) technique confirm the conversion of Halloysite nanotubes to Polyaniline modified halloysite nanotubes and their presence in membrane matrix. The microvoids observable in the SEM images depict the internal structure of the membrane. Further, increasing in the water uptake and decrea…
Polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration for heavy metal removal: Influence of chitosan and carboxymethyl cellulose on filtration performances
Abstract Reclaiming of wastewaters contaminated by heavy metals has become a major challenge over the last decades. For this reason, nanoporous membrane processes have awaken the interest of industry and local community, and the possible ways to improve their performances has become a priority goal for researchers. Metal removal enhancement by polymer addition is a potential way that is deeply investigated herein on nickel ion rejection with chitosan and carboxymethyl cellulose addition. Due to the vanishing of electrostatic interactions induced by the large amount of salt usually contained in effluents, ion rejection consequently drastically drops. However, it is highlighted that a suffici…
Fabrication of zinc doped aluminium oxide/polysulfone mixed matrix membranes for enhanced antifouling property and heavy metal removal
International audience; Heavy metal removal from water resources is essential for environmental protection and the production of safe drinking water. In this direction, Zinc doped Aluminium Oxide (Zn:Al2O3) nanoparticles were incorporated into Polysulfone (PSf) to prepare mixed matrix membranes for the efficient removal of heavy metals from water. These Zn:Al2O3 nanoparticles prepared by the solution combustion method have a very high surface area (261.44 m2/g) with an approximate size of 50 nm. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis showed that the Al and Zn were in +3 and + 2 oxidation states, respectively. Cross-sectional Scanning Electron Microscopy images revealed the finger-like mo…
Preparation of fouling resistant and highly perm-selective novel PSf/GO-vanillin nanofiltration membrane for efficient water purification
International audience; To meet the rising global demand for water, it is necessary to develop membranes capable of efficiently purifying contaminated water sources. Herein, we report a series of novel polysulfone (PSf)/GO-vanillin nanofiltration membranes highly permeable, selective, and fouling resistant. The membranes are composed of two-dimensional (2D) graphite oxide (GO) layers embedded with vanillin as porogen and PSf as the base polymer. There is a growing interest in addressing the synergistic effect of GO and vanillin on improving the permeability and antifouling characteristics of membranes. Various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques were used to perform detailed physicoche…
Impact of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets in mixed- matrix membranes for removal of heavy metals from water
International audience; Removal of heavy metal ions from water is being a challenge and Polysulfone (PSf) membranes have shown great potential to remove them from contaminated solutions. In this work, the introduction of Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (g-C3N4) into PSf membranes was implemented to improve the permeability and separation performance of PSf membranes. g-C3N4 was incorporated into the membrane matrix via nonsolvent induced phase inversion method. The prepared mixed matrix membranes showed enhanced performances towards water filtration. The incorporation of g-C3N4 into the membrane matrix caused an increase in the desired physicochemical properties like hydrophilicity and …