Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most recalcitrant pollutant originated from the burning of coal, petroleum, and other fossil fuels. The human exposure to PAHs may contribute to develop several carcinogenesis mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to develop a mixed matrix membrane (MMM) based on polyethersulfone (PES) and functionalized mesoporous material for the remediation of PAHs mixture by adsorption processes. MCM-41-based mesoparticles were obtained from biomass reuse of rice husk ash (RHA) and functionalized with p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA). The hydrothermal and casting methods were effective and sustainable in the preparation of PABA-MCM-41 and PES-based MMMs, respectively. PES-based MMMs presented an excellent distribution of the arrays incorporated and small-angle ordering. The absorption of PAHs was influenced by the incorporation of PABA-MCM-41 within the PES matrix.
Highlights
Polymeric membranes have been increasingly required in separation processes of different pollutants [1]
We report the preparation of a novel mixed matrix membrane prepared with PES polymer and p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA)-MCM-41 modified mesoporous array, which was applied in the Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) removal
In the same way as the casting approach was useful in the formulation of the PES-based mixed matrix membranes, which exhibited a remarkable and efficient dispersion of the filled mesoparticles, noticed from its homogeneity seen in the SEM and SAXS results
Summary
Polymeric membranes have been increasingly required in separation processes of different pollutants [1]. The systematic use of polymer membranes is mainly due to their main characteristics such as: energy efficiency, easy preparation, selectivity, low-cost, high mechanical resistance, eco-friendly, and recyclability [2,3,4] In this way, membrane technology has been applied in the most different research front, such as gas separation [2, 5,6,7], CO2 [8, 9], heavy crude oil [10], metal [11,12,13], and organic compounds removal [14,15,16,17], catalysis [18, 19], fuel cell [20,21,22,23], distillation processes [24,25,26], drug release [27,28,29], among other applications. The performance of MMMs can be influenced by different factors, mainly: (i) characteristics of polymer and architecture of the filler material, (ii) compatibility, and (iii) preparation technique of MMMs [31]
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