Promoting the separation and antifouling properties of polyethersulfone-based nanofiltration membrane by incorporating of cobalt ferrite/activated carbon composite nanoparticles

Enhanced performance and anti-fouling properties of polyether sulfone (PES) membranes modified with pistachio shell-derived activated carbon (PSAC)@ZIF-8&ZIF-67 to remove dye contaminants

This study aims to improve the properties of polyether sulfone (PES) membranes by using an innovative composite filler. Pistachio shell-derived activated carbon (PSAC) was initially synthesized via chemical activation, followed by surface modification with ZIF-8 and ZIF-67. Subsequently, modified membranes with varying weight percentages of this composite were fabricated using the phase inversion method. The PSAC@ZIF-8&ZIF-67/PES membranes were characterized through FESEM, AFM, pore size, zeta potential, porosity, and water contact angle analyses. The incorporation of the composite in the membranes was confirmed through ATR-FTIR, XRD, and EDS mapping analyses. The finding indicated that adding 0.6 wt% of nanoparticles improved membrane hydrophilicity, increased surface charge, and enhanced porosity. Additionally, the mixed membranes exhibited reduced sedimentation and higher dye removal than unmodified membranes. The optimum amount of composite is determined as 0.6 wt%. At this condition, pure water flux (PWF) increased dramatically from 22.56 L/m2h to 96.26 L/m2h. The mixed matrix membrane demonstrated superior efficiency in removing malachite green (MG) (97 %) and crystal violet (CV) dyes (93 %) and achieved the highest recovery ratio of 61.9 %, indicating a more remarkable membrane ability to combat fouling. The developed membrane demonstrated enhanced hydrophilicity, dye removal efficiency, and antifouling properties, making it promising for environmental applications.

Planning of smart gating membranes for water treatment

The use of membranes in desalination and water treatment has been intensively studied in recent years. The conventional membranes however have various problems such as uncontrollable pore size and membrane properties, which prevents membranes from quickly responding to alteration of operating and environmental conditions. As a result the membranes are fouled, and their separation performance is lowered. The preparation of smart gating membranes inspired by cell membranes is a new method to face these challenges. Introducing stimuli-responsive functional materials into traditional porous membranes and use of hydrogels and microgels can change surface properties and membrane pore sizes under different conditions. This review shows potential of smart gating membranes in water treatment. Various types of stimuli-response such as those of thermo-, pH-, ion-, molecule-, UV light-, magnetic-, redox- and electro-responsive gating membranes along with various gel types such as those of polyelectrolyte, PNIPAM-based, self-healing hydrogels and microgel based-smart gating membranes are discussed. Design strategies, separation mechanisms and challenges in fabrication of smart gating membranes in water treatment are also presented. It is demonstrated that experimental and modeling and simulation results have to be utilized effectively to produce smart gating membranes.