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Efficient removal of dyes from aqueous solution: the potential of cellulose nanocrystals to enhance PES nanocomposite membranes

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Abstract

A novel nanocomposite membrane produced with polyether sulfone (PES) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) was developed for efficient removal of dye. The nanocomposite membranes were prepared using PES and different contents of CNCs (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0 wt%). The morphologies, surface properties, permeability, rejection and fouling analysis were carefully examined. The dye solution flux of PES/CNC membrane significantly increased with an increase of CNC content of the membrane casting solution, maximized to 4.13 times higher compared with dye solution flux of pristine PES membrane. Dye rejections were achieved as 95.8 and 93.6% respectively for an addition of 0.5 and 1% of CNCs into membrane casting solution. Moreover, the antifouling properties of PES membranes improved with adding CNCs due to the hydrophilic character of CNCs. Consequently, the obtained results showed that synthesized PES/CNC membranes can be effectively used for the removal of dyes due to their performance. However, the production cost of CNC is main challenge to be addressed for full-scale application.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), who provided a scholarship for Cigdem Balcik-Canbolat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400, Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Cigdem Balcik-Canbolat

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems (ProcESS), KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Bart Van der Bruggen

  3. Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    Bart Van der Bruggen

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  1. Cigdem Balcik-Canbolat
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Correspondence to Cigdem Balcik-Canbolat.

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Balcik-Canbolat, C., Van der Bruggen, B. Efficient removal of dyes from aqueous solution: the potential of cellulose nanocrystals to enhance PES nanocomposite membranes. Cellulose 27, 5255–5266 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03157-y

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