Polyphenylsulfone membrane modified by novel dendritic fibrous nanosilica (KCC-1-nPr-NH-AcCys) toward water treatment

Abstract

In this work, a new type of dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) was synthesized by anchoring of N-acetylcysteine on its surface. Then, polyphenylsulfone nanocomposite membranes were prepared by phase inversion method in the presence of different amount of functionalized dendritic fibrous nanosilica (KCC-1-nPr-NH-AcCys) for water treatment. The morphological and the characteristic properties of prepared nanoparticles and the modified membrane were investigated by FT-IR, SEM, EDX, BET-BJH, pure water flux, water uptake analysis, and contact angle (CA) measurements. The obtained surface area, pore volume, and the mean pore volume for functionalized material (KCC-1-nPr-NH-AcCys) were 87.5 m2 g−1, 1.1 cm3 g−1 and 4.79 nm, respectively. Also, membrane performance was evaluated in the presence of some heavy metals (Pb2+, Co2+, Ni2+), salts (Na+, Mg2+), and malachite green dye as solution contaminants. The results showed that the applied nanomaterials in the fabrication of membrane not only generate a high surface area but also improve the membrane properties such as its hydrophilicity and pure water flux (between 5.7 Kg m−2 h−1 to 282.98 Kg m−2 h−1 for 0–7 wt%, respectively). Obtained results showed that the membranes (with 3 wt% and 5 wt% of dendritic fibrous nanosilica have the best performance in heavy metal and dye removal and salt rejection and pure water flux.