Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia. Research Center for Nanotechnology Applied to Engineering of Sapienza (CNIS), Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Nanotechnology. 2016 Oct 14;27(41):415706. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/41/415706. Epub 2016 Sep 8.
In this research, novel ultrafiltration nanocomposite membranes were prepared by incorporating self-synthesized nanoporous titanium dioxide (NTiO2) nanoparticles into polysulfone. The surface of the nanoparticle was treated with a silane-based modifier to improve its distribution in the host polymer. Atomic-force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, porosity and contact angle tests were conducted to characterize the properties of the particles as well as the fabricated nanocomposite membranes. The effects of the nanoparticle incorporation were evaluated by conducting ultrafiltration experiments. It was reported that the membrane pure water flux was increased with increasing NTiO2 loading owing to the high porosity of the nanoparticles embedded and/or formation of enlarged pores upon addition of them. The antifouling capacity of the membranes was also tested by ultrafiltration of bovine serum albumin fouling solution. It was found that both water flux and antifouling capacity tended to reach desired level if the NTiO2 added was at optimized loading.
在这项研究中，通过将自合成的纳米多孔二氧化钛（NTiO2）纳米粒子掺入聚砜中，制备了新型的超滤纳米复合膜。纳米粒子的表面用硅烷基改性剂进行处理，以改善其在主聚合物中的分布。原子力显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱、BET、透射电子显微镜、能量色散 X 射线光谱、孔隙率和接触角测试用于表征颗粒以及制备的纳米复合膜的性能。通过超滤实验评估了纳米粒子掺入的效果。据报道，由于嵌入的纳米粒子的高孔隙率和/或添加它们后形成的大孔，膜纯水通量随 NTiO2 负载量的增加而增加。还通过超滤牛血清白蛋白污染溶液测试了膜的抗污染能力。发现如果添加的 NTiO2 处于最佳负载量，水通量和抗污染能力都趋于达到理想水平。
