Chemical Engineering Programme, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Centre for Sustainable Process Technology (CESPRO), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 4;9(1):1216. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38060-x.
Nanomaterials can be incorporated in the synthesis of membrane to obtain mixed-matrix membrane with marked improvement in properties and performance. However, stability and dispersion of the nanomaterials in the membrane matrix, as well as the need to use high ratio of nanomaterials for obvious improvement of membrane properties, remain a major hurdle for commercialization. Hence, this study aims to investigate the improvement of polyamide 6,6 membrane properties with the incorporation of silver nanoparticles decorated on graphene oxide (Ag-GO) nanoplates and at the same time focus is given to the issues above. Graphene oxide nanoplates were synthesized using the modified Hummers' method and decorated with silver before embedded into the polyamide 6,6 matrix. Physicochemical characterizations were conducted on both nanoplates and the mixed-matrix Ag-GO polyamide 6,6 membrane. The issues of Ag agglomeration and leaching were not observed, which could be attributed to the decoration of Ag on GO that helped to disperse the nanomaterials and provided a better anchor point for the attachment of Ag nanoparticles. The synthesized membrane showed marked improvement regarding flux (135% increment) and antifouling (40% lower irreversible fouling), which could be ascribed to the more negative charge of membrane surface (-14 ± 6 to -31 ± 3.8 mV) and hydrophilicity (46% enhancement) of the membranes. With minimal embedment of Ag nanoparticles, the membrane showed superior antibacterial property where the E. coli bacteria could not form a single colony on the membrane surface. Overall, the decoration of Ag on GO nanoplates could be a promising approach to resolve the agglomeration and leaching issues as well as reduce the amount of precious Ag in the synthesis of Ag-GO polyamide 6,6 membrane.
纳米材料可被纳入膜的合成中，以获得性能和性能得到显著改善的混合基质膜。然而，纳米材料在膜基质中的稳定性和分散性，以及为了明显改善膜性能而需要使用高比例的纳米材料，仍然是商业化的主要障碍。因此，本研究旨在探讨通过在氧化石墨烯（GO）纳米板上修饰银纳米粒子来提高聚酰胺 6,6 膜的性能，同时关注上述问题。GO 纳米板采用改良的 Hummers 法合成，然后在嵌入聚酰胺 6,6 基质之前用银进行修饰。对纳米板和混合基质 Ag-GO 聚酰胺 6,6 膜进行了物理化学特性分析。未观察到 Ag 团聚和浸出问题，这可能归因于 GO 上的 Ag 修饰有助于分散纳米材料，并为 Ag 纳米粒子的附着提供了更好的锚固点。所合成的膜在通量（增加 135%）和抗污染性（不可逆污染降低 40%）方面均有显著改善，这可归因于膜表面的负电荷（-14 ± 6 至-31 ± 3.8 mV）和亲水性（提高 46%）增加。在最小嵌入 Ag 纳米粒子的情况下，该膜表现出优异的抗菌性能，大肠杆菌细菌无法在膜表面形成单个菌落。总的来说，在 GO 纳米板上修饰 Ag 可以解决 Ag 团聚和浸出问题，并减少合成 Ag-GO 聚酰胺 6,6 膜中贵金属 Ag 的用量，这是一种很有前途的方法。
