Abstract
In this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) dual-layer membranes filled with 0–3 wt% cellulose nanowhisker (CNWs) were fabricated with aim to remove metal ions from wastewater. An integrated method was employed in the membrane fabrication process by combining water vapor-induced and crystallization-induced phase inversions. The membrane thickness was measured in between 11 and 13 μm, which did not pose significant flux deviation during filtration process. The 3% CNW filled membrane showed prominent and well-laminated two layers structure. Meanwhile, the increase in CNWs from 0 to 3% loadings could improve the membrane porosity (43–74%) but reducing pore size (2.45–0.54 μm). The heat resistance of neat membrane enhanced by 1% CNW but decreased with loadings of 2–3% CNWs due to flaming behavior of sulphated nanocellulose. Membrane with 3% CNW displayed the tensile strength (23.5 MPa), elongation at break (7.1%), and Young's modulus (0.75 GPa) as compared to other samples. For wastewater filtration performance, the continuous operation test showed that 3% CNW filled membrane exhibited the highest removal efficiency for both cobalt and nickel metal ions reaching to 83% and 84%, respectively. We concluded that CNWs filled dual-layer membranes have potential for future development in the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater streams.
Highlights
IntroductionMembrane technology has been greatly grown for separation and purification applications in various fields including wasterwater treatment, hemodialysis, food and beverages and pharmaceutical in past few decades
Membrane technology has been greatly grown for separation and purification applications in various fields including wasterwater treatment, hemodialysis, food and beverages and pharmaceutical in past few decades.membrane filtration techniques have been widely used in separating various orgainic and chemical pollutants (Xia et al 2018)
An integrated method combinating of water vapor-induced and crystallization-induced phase inversions is applied in this study to fabricate a new dual-layer membrane composed of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)
Summary
Membrane technology has been greatly grown for separation and purification applications in various fields including wasterwater treatment, hemodialysis, food and beverages and pharmaceutical in past few decades. The uncontrolled exchange rate of the water vapour and solvent phases tends to induce a delamination in the dual-layer polymer matrix and causing a degradation in the membrane properties (Kao et al 2008; Xia et al 2018) To overcome this problem, an integrated method combinating of water vapor-induced and crystallization-induced phase inversions is applied in this study to fabricate a new dual-layer membrane composed of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS). The nanocellulose filler plays a significant role in regulating the polymer phases separation and crystallization and triggers hydrophilicity and nucleation effects beside serving as a pore-forming agent This fabrication concept is motived by the absence of any investigation on the utilisation of nanocellulose fillers to generate PLA/PBS dual-layer polymeric membrane with high performance in removing metal ions. The wastewater filtration performance of the dual-layer membranes was evaluated for separation of heavy metals such as Co2+ and Ni2+ ions from solutions
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