Abstract
Abstract This study aims at identifying asymmetric cellulose acetate (CA)/cellulose triacetate (CTA) forward osmosis (FO) membranes that have high water flux (Jv) and low reverse salt diffusion flux (Js) with acetic acid to replace the 1,4-dioxane for the mixed solvent for CA/CTA dissolution. The optimum fabrication parameters for the CA/CTA FO membranes are determined by using response surface methodology with a 43 Box-Behnken design. Effects of weight fraction of CA (at CA/CTA = 2), spinning speed, annealing temperature and annealing time on the Jv and Js are investigated. The optimum conditions to maximize the Jv to 6.4 L/m2/h and minimize Js to 0.47 g/m2/h together are: 6%/3% CA/CTA, 2993 rpm spinning speed, 87.8 °C annealing temperature and 180 s annealing time. The fabricated FO membranes can reject over 99.9% heavy metal ions from feed wastewater and can be used as an effective barrier for alginate gels with easy flux recovery by ultrasound cleaning.
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