Nazri Amirul Islah, Ahmad Abdul Latif, Hussin Mohd Hazwan
School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Membranes (Basel). 2021 Aug 27;11(9):660. doi: 10.3390/membranes11090660.
A novel polyethersulfone (PES)/microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) composite membrane for humic acid (HA) removal in water was fabricated using the phase inversion method by blending hydrophilic MCC with intrinsically hydrophobic PES in a lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide (LiCl/DMAc) co-solvent system. A rheological study indicated that the MCC-containing casting solutions exhibited a significant increase in viscosity, which directly influenced the composite membrane's pore structure. Compared to the pristine PES membrane, the composite membranes have a larger surface pore size, elongated finger-like structure, and presence of sponge-like pores. The water contact angle and pure water flux of the composite membranes indicated an increase in hydrophilicity of the modified membranes. However, the permeability of the composite membranes started to decrease at 3 wt.% MCC and beyond. The natural organic matter removal experiments were performed using humic acid (HA) as the surface water pollutant. The hydrophobic HA rejection was significantly increased by the enhanced hydrophilic PES/MCC composite membrane via the hydrophobic-hydrophilic interaction and pore size exclusion. This study provides insight into the utilization of a low-cost and environmentally friendly additive to improve the hydrophilicity of PES membranes for efficient removal of HA in water.
采用相转化法，在氯化锂/ N，N -二甲基乙酰胺（LiCl/DMAc）共溶剂体系中，将亲水性微晶纤维素（MCC）与本质上疏水的聚醚砜（PES）共混，制备了一种用于去除水中腐殖酸（HA）的新型聚醚砜（PES）/微晶纤维素（MCC）复合膜。流变学研究表明，含MCC的铸膜液粘度显著增加，这直接影响了复合膜的孔结构。与原始PES膜相比，复合膜具有更大的表面孔径、细长的指状结构和海绵状孔。复合膜的水接触角和纯水通量表明改性膜的亲水性增加。然而，当MCC含量达到3 wt.%及以上时，复合膜的渗透率开始下降。以腐殖酸（HA）作为地表水污染物进行了天然有机物去除实验。通过疏水 - 亲水相互作用和孔径排斥，亲水性增强的PES/MCC复合膜显著提高了对疏水性HA的截留率。本研究为利用低成本且环保的添加剂提高PES膜亲水性以有效去除水中HA提供了思路。
