Abstract
Based on carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH), a MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane was prepared by a vacuum filtration cross-linking method. The surface compositions and morphology of conductive membranes were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The effects of cross-linked polymeric polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the conductive membrane properties such as the porosity, pore size distribution, pure water flux, conductivity, hydrophilicity, stability and antifouling properties were investigated. Results showed that the addition of PVA to the MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane decreased the pure water flux, porosity and the conductivity. However, the hydrophilicity of the modified MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane was greatly improved, and the contact angle of pure water was reduced from 70.18° to 25.48° with the addition of PVA contents from 0 wt% to 0.05 wt%. Meanwhile, the conductive membranes with higher content had a relatively higher stability. It was found that the conductive functional layer of the conductive membrane had an average mass loss rate of 1.22% in the 30 min ultrasonic oscillation experiment. The tensile intensity and break elongation ratio of the conductive membrane are improved by the addition of PVA, and the durability of the conductive membrane with PVA was superior to that without PVA added. The electric assisted anti-fouling experiments of modified conductive membrane indicated that compared with the condition without electric field, the average flux attenuation of the conductive membrane was reduced by 11.2%, and the membrane flux recovery rate reached 97.05%. Moreover, the addition of PVA could accelerate the clean of the conductive membranes.
Highlights
Membrane technology is one of the most promising methods for water treatment [1,2].In recent years, membrane-based processes have been developed and applied for different applications, including particle filtration (PF), microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) [3,4]
The results showed that with the addition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/PVDF conductive membrane had strong stability, excellent hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties
MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membranes were prepared by a vacuum filtration crosslinking method
Summary
Membrane technology is one of the most promising methods for water treatment [1,2]. Membrane-based processes have been developed and applied for different applications, including particle filtration (PF), microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) [3,4]. Due to increasingly stringent discharge standards, the MBR technology market is growing rapidly [7]. As a high-efficiency separation technology, membrane technology has an inevitable membrane fouling problem in its applications [8,9]. Deng et al showed membrane fouling reduction using a sponge submerged MBR [10]. Izadi et al indicated reduced fouling with an integrated fixed bed MBR [11]. The design and development of improved membranes are as important as the betterment of operational techniques
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