Abstract
In the present work, the synthesized silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles and Pluronic F127 (PF127) were incorporated into polysulfone (PSF) to prepare PSF/PF127/SiO2 nanocomposite ultrafiltration (UF) membrane to enhance antifouling properties. The prepared antifouling UF membrane was used for removing the oil molecules from the synthetically produced oil–water solution. SiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized via sol–gel process and characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, and UV–visible. The modified membranes with different concentrations (0.2, 0.6, and 1 wt.%) of SiO2 and 1 wt.% of PF127 are fabricated via phase inversion technique. The prepared membranes are analyzed using SEM, AFM, contact angle, pore structure factor, and molecular weight cutoff (MWCO). The thermal and mechanical stability was characterized by TGA and mechanical strength analyzer. The performance of the membrane is measured by permeate flux, rejection, and antifouling properties. In filtration performance, PSF (16 wt.%), PF127 (1 wt.%), and SiO2 (1 wt.%) membrane resulted in enriched permeation of 301.2 L m−2 h−1 with better rejection of 94% and MWCO of 40 kDa and excellent recyclability with 90% flux recovery ratio. From the overall performance, the modification of the PSF membrane with SiO2 nanoparticles showed improved efficacy in the separation of oil wastewater.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
Membrane area (cm2)
- C f :
-
Feed concentration (gL−1)
- C p :
-
Permeate concentration of the (gL−1)
- EWC:
-
Water uptake capacity
- FRR:
-
Flux recovery ratio
- J o :
-
Oil–water permeate flux (L m−2 h−1)
- J v1 :
-
Pure water flux (L m−2 h−1)
- J v2 :
-
After cleaning pure water flux (L m−2 h−1)
- l :
-
Thickness of the membrane (cm)
- L p :
-
Permeability coefficient (L m−2 h−1 Pa−1)
- M n :
-
Number average molecular weight
- M w :
-
Weight average molecular weight
- MS-0:
-
PSF/PF127 (1wt.%)
- MS-1:
-
PSF/PF127/SiO2 (0.2 wt.%)
- MS-2:
-
PSF/PF127/SiO2 (0.6 wt.%)
- MS-3:
-
PSF/PF127/SiO2 (1 wt.%)
- PSF:
-
Polysulfone
- PF127:
-
Pluronic F127
- PWF:
-
Pure water flux
- Q :
-
Permeate flow (m3s−1)
- R a :
-
Mean roughness profile (nm)
- R ir :
-
Irreversible fouling
- r p :
-
Average pore size (nm)
- R q :
-
Root mean square deviation roughness (nm)
- R r :
-
Reversible fouling
- R t :
-
Total fouling
- R m :
-
Intrinsic resistance (m−1)
- R f :
-
Fouling resistance (m−1)
- R T :
-
Total resistance (m−1)
- SiO2 :
-
Silicon dioxide
- S c :
-
Spreading coefficient (mNm−1)
- TMP:
-
Trans membrane pressure (kPa)
- W a :
-
Work of adhesion (mNm−1)
- W d :
-
Weight of the dry sample (g)
- W w :
-
Weight of the wet sample (g)
- β :
-
Constant value of 0.0001024 mJm−2
- ε :
-
Porosity of the membrane
- η :
-
Water viscosity (Pa s)
- θ :
-
Solid-liquid contact angle
- ρ :
-
Density of pure water (g cm−3)
- τ :
-
Tortuosity
- γ lv :
-
Interfacial free energies of liquid–vapor (mNm−1)
- γ sl :
-
Interfacial free energies of solid–liquid (mNm−1)
- γ sv :
-
Interfacial free energies of solid–vapor (mNm−1)
- ΔP:
-
Trans-membrane pressure (Pa)
- Δt:
-
Time duration of permeate (h)
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Manikandan, G.N., Janani, A. & Helen Kalavathy, M. Effect of SiO2 on PSF/PF127 nanocomposite mixed matrix membrane for the separation of oil–water emulsion. Chem. Pap. 77, 3093–3110 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-023-02689-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-023-02689-4