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Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration hollow fiber membrane fabrication and characterization by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

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Abstract

Nano-TiO2 nanoparticles were incorporated into thin film nanocomposites (TFN) formed on hollow fiber support membranes composed of a blend of polysulfone and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Three different TiO2 nanoparticles (0.01%, 0.05% and 0.2% w/v) in the thin film composite were investigated. Formation of the nanocomposite polyamide layer was confirmed by the results of FTIR and scanning electron microscopy. Double-layer capacitance values obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results showed that effective surface area of the membranes was enhance by the incorporation of nano-TiO2. Nanofiltration membrane performance was examined using solutions of MgSO4 and NaCl under cross-flow system with hollow fiber nanofiltration modules. Fouling of the membrane was evaluated with solutions of humic and tannic acids. The permeate flux of TFN 0.05 composite membranes was improved nearly 12 times with the incorporation of TiO2 with rejections of MgSO4 and NaCl salts of 22% and 5%, respectively. The rejections of the NF membranes for HA and TA were 84% and 74%, respectively, with improved antifouling properties compared to the thin film composite membrane without TiO2, the latter being attributed to increased hydrophilicity of membrane surface.

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Abbreviations

J :

Permeate flux (L/m2 h)

A m :

Membrane effective area (m2)

\(\Delta W_{\text{feed}}\) :

Weight change of the feed solution (g)

Δt :

Permeation time (h)

R :

Observed rejection ratio (%)

C f :

Salt concentration in the feed (g/L)

C p :

Salt concentration in the permeate (g/L)

A :

Effective membrane area (m2)

TFN 0:

Thin film nanocomposite

TFN 0.01:

Thin film nanocomposite with incorporation of 0.01% TiO2

D eff :

Effective diffusion coefficient

ω*:

Radial frequency

Φ:

The diffusion length (μm)

L :

Effective length of the pores

R d :

Resistance (Ohm)

D e :

Diffusion coefficient of electrons in TFN

D i :

Diffusion coefficient of ions in TFN

ΔP :

The working pressure (Pa)

TFN 0.05:

Thin film nanocomposite with incorporation of 0.05% TiO2

TFN 0.2:

Thin film nanocomposite with incorporation of 0.2% TiO2

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to The Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for the financial support under grant (Project No. 113Y359). GMUB would like to thank for funding provided by TUBITAK-BIDEB 2214-A International Research Fellowship Programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gulsum Melike Urper-Bayram, Esra Ates-Genceli & Ismail Koyuncu

  2. National Research Center on Membrane Technologies, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gulsum Melike Urper-Bayram, Burcu Sayinli, Reyhan Sengur-Tasdemir & Ismail Koyuncu

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Gulsum Melike Urper-Bayram, Nathan Bossa & Mark Wiesner

  4. Department of Nano Science and Nano Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Burcu Sayinli, Reyhan Sengur-Tasdemir & Ismail Koyuncu

  5. Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Nathan Bossa & Mark Wiesner

  6. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Edgard Ngaboyamahina

  7. Center for WaSH-AID, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Edgard Ngaboyamahina

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  1. Gulsum Melike Urper-Bayram
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Urper-Bayram, G.M., Sayinli, B., Bossa, N. et al. Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration hollow fiber membrane fabrication and characterization by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Polym. Bull. 77, 3411–3427 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-019-02905-w

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