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Composite polyester membranes with embedded dendrimer hosts and bimetallic Fe/Ni nanoparticles: synthesis, characterisation and application to water treatment

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Abstract

This study describes the preparation, characterization and evaluation of new composite membranes with embedded dendrimer hosts and Fe/Ni nanoparticles. These new reactive membranes consist of films of cyclodextrin–poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers (β-CD–PPI) that are deposited onto commercial polysulfone microporous supports and crosslinked with trimesoyl chloride (TMC). The membranes were subsequently loaded with Fe/Ni nanoparticles and evaluated as separation/reactive media in aqueous solutions using 2,4,6-trichlorophenol as model pollutant. The morphology and physicochemical properties of the composite membranes were characterised using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), atomic force microscopy and measurements of contact angle, water intake, porosity and water permeability. The sorption capacity and catalytic activity of the membranes were evaluated using ion chromatography, atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry and UV–Vis spectroscopy (UV–Vis). The sizes of the embedded Fe/Ni nanoparticles in the membranes ranged from 40 to 66 nm as confirmed by HR-TEM. The reaction rates for the dechlorination of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol ranged from 0.00148 to 0.00250 min−1. In all cases, we found that the reaction by-products consisted of chloride ions and mixtures of compounds including phenol (m/z = 93), 2,4-dichlorophenol (m/z = 163) and 4-chlorophenol (m/z = 128). The overall results of this study suggest that β-CD–PPI dendrimers are promising building blocks for the synthesis of composite and reactive membranes for the efficient removal of chlorinated organic pollutants from water.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the University of Johannesburg new generation scholarship for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 17011, Doornfontein, 2028, South Africa

    S. P. Malinga, O. A. Arotiba, M. S. Diallo & B. B. Mamba

  2. Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    R. W. M. Krause

  3. Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

    S. F. Mapolie

  4. Graduate School of EEWS, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    M. S. Diallo

  5. Division of Engineering and Applied Science, Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    M. S. Diallo

Authors
  1. S. P. Malinga
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  2. O. A. Arotiba
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  3. R. W. M. Krause
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  4. S. F. Mapolie
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  5. M. S. Diallo
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  6. B. B. Mamba
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. P. Malinga.

Additional information

Special Issue Editors: Mamadou Diallo, Neil Fromer, Myung S. Jhon

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Nanotechnology for Sustainable Development

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

FTIR spectrum showing comparison between β-CDCIm, β-CD-G3-PPI and β-CD-G4-PPI conjugates (TIFF 8,213 kb)

11051_2013_1698_MOESM2_ESM.tif

1H NMR of β-CD-G3-PPI in D2O and insert shows the carbonyl proton (new bond formed between the dendrimer and cyclodextrin entities). (TIFF 92 kb)

ESI–MS spectrum for β-CD-G3-PPI (TIFF 87 kb)

ESI–MS spectrum for β-CD-G4-PPI (TIFF 137 kb)

11051_2013_1698_MOESM5_ESM.tif

FTIR spectrum showing comparison between TMC, PSf membrane and β-CD-PPI-PSf membrane before and after reaction with TMC (TIFF 52 kb)

SEM image of the Fe/Ni membrane (a) and EDS mapping for Fe (b) and Ni (c) (TIFF 546 kb)

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Malinga, S.P., Arotiba, O.A., Krause, R.W.M. et al. Composite polyester membranes with embedded dendrimer hosts and bimetallic Fe/Ni nanoparticles: synthesis, characterisation and application to water treatment. J Nanopart Res 15, 1698 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1698-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1698-y

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