Abstract
In this work, the polyamide (PA) membrane surface has been modified by coating of nanomaterials including graphene oxide (GO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) to enhance membrane separation and antifouling properties. The influence of surface modification conditions on membrane characteristics has been investigated and compared with a base membrane. Membrane surface properties were determined through scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy. Membrane separation performance was determined through the possibility for the removal of methylene blue (MB) in water. Membrane antifouling property was evaluated by the maintained flux ratios (%) after 120 minutes of filtration. The experimental results showed that the appearance of hydrophilic groups after coating of GO and TiO2 nanocomposite materials with or without UV irradiation onto membrane surface made an improvement in the separation property of the coated membranes. The membrane flux increased from 28% to 61%; meanwhile, the antifouling property of the coated membranes was improved clearly, especially for UV-irradiated PA/GO-TiO2 membrane.
Highlights
Along with the rapid economic development, water pollution is becoming a serious problem
To modify the PA membrane surface, the base membrane was placed in a membrane cell and a suspension solution of graphene oxide (GO) or TiO2 or GO-TiO2 was compressed through the membrane at a specified pressure. en, the coated membrane was rinsed carefully with deionized water and/or exposed to UV light (254 nm, 32 W) at different times
In the previous work [19], the successful preparation of GO-TiO2 materials had been confirmed through a scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry mapping (EDX mapping), transmission electron microscope (TEM) images, and Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis (FTIR)
Summary
Along with the rapid economic development, water pollution is becoming a serious problem. The increase in hydrophilicity or antifouling property of membrane in general and PA membrane in particular has been carried out through chemical grafting, physical blending, or physical coating [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14] Among these methods, the coating of hydrophilic agents such as mesoporous silica, titanium dioxide (TiO2) [5,6,7,8], zinc oxide (ZnO) [9], or graphene oxide (GO) [10,11,12,13,14] onto membrane surface is one of the useful methods to enhance membrane. In order to decrease the TiO2 aggregation onto the membrane and to improve the antifouling performance, in this study, graphene oxide-titanium dioxide nanomaterial was coated onto the polyamide thin-film composite membrane. By incorporation of both graphene oxide and titanium dioxide onto the PA membrane surface, the antifouling property of the PA membrane surface will be improved
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