Avornyo Amos, Thanigaivelan Arumugham, Krishnamoorthy Rambabu, Hassan Shadi W, Banat Fawzi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates.
Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Feb 1;13(2):176. doi: 10.3390/membranes13020176.
Although ultrafiltration is a reliable method for separating oily wastewater, the process is limited by problems of low flux and membrane fouling. In this study, for the first time, commercial TiO/ZrO ceramic membranes modified with silver-functionalized copper oxide (Ag-CuO) nanoparticles are reported for the improved separation performance of emulsified oil. Ag-CuO nanoparticles were synthesized via hydrothermal technique and dip-coated onto commercial membranes at varying concentrations (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 wt.%). The prepared membranes were further examined to understand the improvements in oil-water separation due to Ag-CuO coating. All modified ceramic membranes exhibited higher hydrophilicity and decreased porosity. Additionally, the permeate flux, oil rejection, and antifouling performance of the Ag-CuO-coated membranes were more significantly improved than the pristine commercial membrane. The 0.5 wt.% modified membrane exhibited a 30% higher water flux (303.63 L m h) and better oil rejection efficiency (97.8%) for oil/water separation among the modified membranes. After several separation cycles, the 0.5 wt.% Ag-CuO-modified membranes showed a constant permeate flux with an excellent oil rejection of >95% compared with the unmodified membrane. Moreover, the corrosion resistance of the coated membrane against acid, alkali, actual seawater, and oily wastewater was remarkable. Thus, the Ag-CuO-modified ceramic membranes are promising for oil separation applications due to their high flux, enhanced oil rejection, better antifouling characteristics, and good stability.
尽管超滤是分离含油废水的可靠方法，但该过程受到通量低和膜污染问题的限制。在本研究中，首次报道了用银功能化氧化铜（Ag-CuO）纳米颗粒改性的商用TiO/ZrO陶瓷膜，以提高乳化油的分离性能。通过水热技术合成Ag-CuO纳米颗粒，并以不同浓度（0.1、0.5和1.0 wt.%）浸涂到商用膜上。对制备的膜进行了进一步研究，以了解由于Ag-CuO涂层而在油水分离方面的改进。所有改性陶瓷膜均表现出更高的亲水性和降低的孔隙率。此外，Ag-CuO涂层膜的渗透通量、拒油率和抗污染性能比原始商用膜有更显著的提高。在改性膜中，0.5 wt.%改性膜在油水分离中表现出高出30%的水通量（303.63 L m⁻² h⁻¹）和更好的拒油效率（97.8%）。经过几个分离循环后，与未改性膜相比，0.5 wt.% Ag-CuO改性膜显示出恒定的渗透通量，具有>95%的优异拒油率。此外，涂覆膜对酸、碱、实际海水和含油废水的耐腐蚀性显著。因此，Ag-CuO改性陶瓷膜因其高通量（高流量）、增强的拒油率、更好的抗污染特性和良好的稳定性，在油分离应用中具有广阔前景。
