Fabrication and characterization of polyvinyl chloride mixed matrix membranes containing high aspect ratio anatase titania and hydrous manganese oxide nanoparticle for efficient removal of heavy metal ions: Competitive removal study

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, novel polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ultrafiltration mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) containing high aspect ratio anatase titania (ANT) and hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) nanoparticles were synthesized in order to decontaminate cadmium and copper metal ions. ANT and HMO nanoparticles with various loadings in a range of 5‐15 were used in the casting solution of MMMs. The characterization of fabricated MMMs was carried out with respect to the structural morphology, hydrophilicity, and composition by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. With an increase in the nanoparticle loadings, the change in other membrane characteristics such as mean pore size, pure water flux, and porosity were also evaluated. The results revealed that the mean pore size and water flux increased at a higher loading of ANT and HMO nanoparticles, while the contact angle and porosity of the membranes showed reverse trends. Moreover, the higher flux of pure water was obtained for PVC‐ANT MMMs compared to PVC‐HMO MMMs because of the larger mean pore size, higher porosity, and hydrophilicity of PVC‐ANT MMMs. In this study, the decontamination of cadmium and copper metal ions in single and binary systems of heavy metals was investigated and the effect of Mn2+ (as an interfering ion) was also studied. The evaluation of the metal ion removal data demonstrated that the affinity sequence of both the PVC‐ANT‐15 and PVC‐HMO‐15 MMMs for heavy metal removal was Cu2+ > Cd2+ > Mn2+ in the single and binary systems. It was found through ultrafiltration (UF) experiments that PVC‐ANT MMM was the most efficient membrane in the elimination of heavy metals due to the superior ANT adsorption capacity. However, the overall findings disclosed that both ANT and HMO nanoparticles are suitable candidates for the preparation of MMMs used in cadmium and copper decontamination from aqueous solutions.