Naji Mohammed Azeez, Salimi-Kenari Hamed, Alsalhy Qusay F, Al-Juboori Raed A, Huynh Ngoc, Rashid Khalid T, Salih Issam K
Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar 4741613534, Iran.
Membrane Technology Research Unit, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Technology-Iraq, Alsinaa Street 52, Baghdad 10066, Iraq.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Mar 20;13(3):357. doi: 10.3390/membranes13030357.
In this work, MXene as a hydrophilic 2D nanosheet has been suggested to tailor the polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) flat sheet membrane characteristics via bulk modification. The amount of MXene varied in the PPSU casting solution from 0-1.5 wt.%, while a series of characterization tools have been employed to detect the surface characteristics changes. This included atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, pore size and porosity, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results disclosed that the MXene content could significantly influence some of the membranes' surface characteristics while no effect was seen on others. The optimal MXene content was found to be 0.6 wt.%, as revealed by the experimental work. The roughness parameters of the 0.6 wt.% nanocomposite membrane were notably enhanced, while greater hydrophilicity has been imparted compared to the nascent PPSU membrane. This witnessed enhancement in the surface characteristics of the nanocomposite was indeed reflected in their performance. A triple enhancement in the pure water flux was witnessed without compromising the retention of the membranes against the Cu, Cd and Pd feed. In parallel, high, and comparable separation rates (>92%) were achieved by all membranes regardless of the MXene content. In addition, promising antifouling features were observed with the nanocomposite membranes, disclosing that these nanocomposite membranes could offer a promising potential to treat heavy metals-containing wastewater for various applications.
在这项工作中，已提出将MXene作为一种亲水性二维纳米片，通过本体改性来调整聚亚苯基砜（PPSU）平板膜的特性。在PPSU铸膜液中，MXene的含量在0 - 1.5 wt.%范围内变化，同时采用了一系列表征工具来检测表面特性的变化。这包括原子力显微镜（AFM）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、接触角、孔径和孔隙率以及傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）。结果表明，MXene含量会显著影响部分膜的表面特性，而对其他特性则无影响。实验工作表明，最佳MXene含量为0.6 wt.%。0.6 wt.%纳米复合膜的粗糙度参数显著提高，与初始PPSU膜相比，亲水性更强。纳米复合材料表面特性的这种增强确实反映在其性能上。在不影响膜对铜、镉和钯进料截留率的情况下，纯水通量提高了两倍。同时，无论MXene含量如何，所有膜均实现了较高且相当的分离率（>92%）。此外，纳米复合膜具有良好的抗污染特性，这表明这些纳米复合膜在处理含重金属废水的各种应用中具有广阔的潜力。
