Fe3O4@Gum Arabic modified polyvinyl chloride membranes to improve antifouling performance and separation efficiency of organic pollutants

Abstract

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes are promising media for water and wastewater treatment; however, they suffer from their hydrophobic nature and low permeability. For this reason, the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) NF membrane was modified by iron (III) oxide@Gum Arabic (Fe3O4@GA) nanocomposite. First, Fe3O4@GA nanocomposite was synthesized by the co-precipitation approach and then its morphology, elemental composition, thermal stability, and functional groups were characterized by various analyses. Next, the prepared nanocomposite was added to the casting solution of the PVC membrane. The bare and modified membranes were fabricated by a nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method. The characteristics of fabricated membranes were assessed by mechanical strength, water contact angle, pore size, and porosity measurements. The optimum Fe3O4@GA/PVC membrane had a 52 L m−2. h−1. bar−1 water flux with a high flux recovery ratio (FRR) value (82%). Also, the filtration experiment exhibited that the Fe3O4@GA/PVC membrane could remarkably remove organic contaminants, achieving high rejection rates of 98% Reactive Red-195, 95% Reactive Blue-19, and 96% Rifampicin antibiotic by 0.25 wt% of Fe3O4@GA/PVC membrane. According to the results, adding Fe3O4@GA green nanocomposite to the membrane casting solution is a suitable and efficient procedure for modifying NF membranes.