ZrO2-TiO2 Incorporated PVDF Dual-Layer Hollow Fiber Membrane for Oily Wastewater Treatment: Effect of Air Gap.

Nurshahnawal Yaacob,Noor Aina Mohd Nazri,Be Cheer Ng,Muhammad Nizam Zainal Abidin,Ahmad Fauzi Ismail,Pei Sean Goh,Lukka Thuyavan Yogarathinam

doi:10.3390/membranes10060124

Nurshahnawal Yaacob, Noor Aina Mohd Nazri + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10060124

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Abstract

Dual-layer hollow fiber (DLHF) nanocomposite membrane prepared by co-extrusion technique allows a uniform distribution of nanoparticles within the membrane outer layer to enhance the membrane performance. The effects of spinning parameters especially the air gap on the physico-chemical properties of ZrO2-TiO2 nanoparticles incorporated PVDF DLHF membranes for oily wastewater treatment have been investigated in this study. The zeta potential of the nanoparticles was measured to be around –16.5 mV. FESEM–EDX verified the uniform distribution of Ti, Zr, and O elements throughout the nanoparticle sample and the TEM images showed an average nanoparticles grain size of ~12 nm. Meanwhile, the size distribution intensity was around 716 nm. A lower air gap was found to suppress the macrovoid growth which resulted in the formation of thin outer layer incorporated with nanoparticles. The improvement in the separation performance of PVDF DLHF membranes embedded with ZrO2-TiO2 nanoparticles by about 5.7% in comparison to the neat membrane disclosed that the incorporation of ZrO2-TiO2 nanoparticles make them potentially useful for oily wastewater treatment.

Highlights

Wastewaters are normally released to sea without proper treatment and are above the allowable standard discharge limits [1]
The effect of air gap was optimized to fabricate polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) Dual-layer hollow fiber (DLHF) membranes incorporated with ZrO2 -TiO2 nanoparticles for oily wastewater treatment
The permeation results revealed that the water flux of DL-ZT1 was enhanced and the oil rejection was recorded as 85.4% when the membrane was spun at an optimum air gap of 5 cm

Summary

Introduction

Wastewaters are normally released to sea without proper treatment and are above the allowable standard discharge limits [1]. Membrane technology has emerged as an eminent technology in oily wastewater treatment due to its high separation efficiency [3], high effluent quality [4], and no chemical additive is needed to break the emulsion. Membranes are frequently employed to remove oil-water emulsion [5] owing to the high efficacy of the membranes in the removal of oil droplets [6]. The high fouling propensity resulted from oil adsorption and deposition on the surface of these polymeric membranes has a negative impact on water permeability limited their usage at the industry level [7,8].

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