Color removal and antifouling capability of prepared fumarate-alumoxane nanoparticles blended PES nanofiltration membrane

Abstract

Fumarate-Alumoxane nanoparticles (Fum-ANPs) incorporated PES nanofiltration membrane was fabricated via phase inversion to achieve favorable performance as an antifouling nanofiltration membrane for dye removal. To investigate the effect of the Fum-ANPs on nanofiltration performance, pure water flux and water contact angle measurements were carried out. FTIR spectra of the Fum-ANPs revealed that the carboxylate and hydroxyl functional groups were created on the surface of Fum-ANPs. The strong affinity of Fum-ANPs functionalities with water molecules made the membrane surface more hydrophilic. Hence, this membrane sample had a higher pure water flux than the bare one. Zeta potential data showed that the Fum-ANPs blended PES membrane was negatively charged at a pH value of 6, which is favorable for negatively charged solute rejection. For investigating the antifouling behavior of the membranes, powder milk solution (8 g/l) were analyzed using a dead-end filtration apparatus. The results obtained from fouling analysis clearly demonstrated that the introduction of Fum-ANPs in the membrane matrix ameliorated the antifouling behavior of the resulting membrane. To study the performance of the Fum-ANPs incorporated PES membrane rejection of Direct red 16 dye was tested. The Direct red 16 rejection with the Fum-ANPs blended PES membrane was 99% while it was 88.2% for the bare membrane sample