Matin Asif, Baig Nadeem, Anand Deepak, Ahmad Irshad, Sajid Muhammad, Nawaz Muhammad Saqib
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
Environ Res. 2023 Nov 15;237(Pt 1):116905. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116905. Epub 2023 Aug 18.
Membranes are receiving significant attention to remove emerging organic micropollutants (OMPs) from wastewater and natural water sources. Herein, we report the facile preparation of a novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with high permeability and efficient removal of OMPs. ZnO nanoparticles were first synthesized using the co-precipitation method and functionalized with N1-(3-Trimethoxysilylpropyl)diethylenetriamine to make the surface rich with amine groups and then synthesized nanomaterials were covalently cross-linked into the active layer during the interfacial polymerization (IP) process. The performance of the membranes containing the cross-linked ZnO was significantly better than the non-cross-linked ZnO NPs containing membranes. Adding multiple hydrophilic groups and entities on the surface significantly decreased the contact angle (from ∼60° to 20°). SEM images confirmed the uniform presence and homogeneous distribution of the functionalized NPs throughout the entire membrane surface. Zeta potential measurements showed the modified membranes have a lower negative charge than the pristine membranes. Filtration studies revealed a significant increase in permeability ascribed to the creation of nanochannels in the membrane's active layer. The modified membranes outperformed commercial NF membranes in removing four common OMPs with rejection efficiencies of ∼30%, 64%, 60%, and 70% for Sulfamethoxazole, Amitriptyline, Omeprazole, and Loperamide HCl, respectively. The higher removal efficiency was attributed to the weakened hydrophobic interactions due to the presence of hydrophilic moieties and a stronger size exclusion effect. Moreover, the modified membranes showed high resistance to bacterial adhesion in static conditions.
膜在去除废水和天然水源中新兴的有机微污染物（OMPs）方面受到了广泛关注。在此，我们报道了一种新型的具有高渗透性且能高效去除OMPs的薄膜纳米复合（TFN）膜的简便制备方法。首先采用共沉淀法合成ZnO纳米颗粒，并用N1-(3-三甲氧基硅丙基)二亚乙基三胺对其进行功能化处理，使表面富含胺基，然后在界面聚合（IP）过程中将合成的纳米材料共价交联到活性层中。含有交联ZnO的膜的性能明显优于含有未交联ZnO NPs的膜。在表面添加多个亲水基团和实体显著降低了接触角（从约60°降至20°）。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像证实了功能化纳米颗粒在整个膜表面均匀存在且分布均匀。zeta电位测量表明，改性膜的负电荷比原始膜低。过滤研究表明，由于膜活性层中形成了纳米通道，渗透率显著提高。改性膜在去除四种常见OMPs方面优于商业纳滤膜，对磺胺甲恶唑、阿米替林、奥美拉唑和盐酸洛哌丁胺的截留效率分别约为30%、64%、60%和70%。较高的去除效率归因于亲水部分的存在削弱了疏水相互作用以及更强的尺寸排阻效应。此外，改性膜在静态条件下表现出对细菌粘附的高抗性。
