Fabrication of halloysite nanotubes embedded thin film nanocomposite membranes for dye removal

Pilot scale nanofiltration membrane fabrication containing ionic co-monomers and halloysite nanotubes for textile dye filtration

Wastewater from the textile industry contains high concentrations of pollutants, so the wastewater must be treated before it is discharged. In addition, the reuse of treated wastewater should be considered from an environmental point of view, as large volumes of wastewater are produced. Since textile wastewater mainly contains dyestuffs, it must be treated effectively using environmentally friendly technologies. Membrane processes are widely used in textile wastewater treatment as they have distinct advantages over conventional wastewater treatment methods. This study reports the pilot-scale manufacturing and characterization of three different NF membranes. Three different types of membranes were fabricated. The fabricated membranes were compared through characterization by surface properties, chemical structure and morphology. Membranes were tested for pure water flux. Then the synthetic wastewater (SWW) was tested for flux and rejection. Lastly, the textile wastewater was tested. The textile wastewater flux of pure piperazine (PIP), 60% S-DADPS and 0.04% halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were 22.42, 79.58 and 40.06 L m^-2 h^-1. It has been proven that the 60% s-DADPS membrane provides up to four times improvement in wastewater flux and simultaneously. In addition, NF membranes produced using HNT and sDADPS on a pilot scale have brought innovation to the literature with the good results obtained.

Fabrication of Ti2SnC-MAX Phase Blended PES Membranes with Improved Hydrophilicity and Antifouling Properties for Oil/Water Separation

In this research work, the Ti₂SnC MAX phase (MP) was synthesized via the reactive sintering procedure. The layered and crystalline structure of this MP was verified by SEM, HRTEM, and XRD analyses. This nano-additive was used for improvement of different features of the polyethersulfone (PES) polymeric membranes. The blended membranes containing diverse quantities of the MP (0-1 wt%) were fabricated by a non-solvent-induced phase inversion method. The asymmetric structure of the membranes with small holes in the top layer and coarse finger-like holes and macro-voids in the sublayer was observed by applying SEM analysis. The improvement of the membrane's hydrophilicity was verified via reducing the contact angle of the membranes from 63.38° to 49.77° (for bare and optimum membranes, respectively). Additionally, in the presence of 0.5 wt% MP, the pure water flux increased from 286 h to 355 L/m² h. The average roughness of this membrane increased in comparison with the bare membrane, which shows the increase in the filtration-available area. The high separation efficiency of the oil/water emulsion (80%) with an improved flux recovery ratio of 65% was illustrated by the optimum blended membrane.