A positively charged tight UF membrane and its properties for removing trace metal cations via electrostatic repulsion mechanism

Ming-Yong Zhou; Peng Zhang; Li-Feng Fang; Bao-Ku Zhu; Jian-Li Wang; Jiang-Hua Chen; Heba Abdallah

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.03.088

A positively charged tight UF membrane and its properties for removing trace metal cations via electrostatic repulsion mechanism

J Hazard Mater. 2019 Jul 5:373:168-175. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.03.088. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Authors

Ming-Yong Zhou¹, Peng Zhang², Li-Feng Fang³, Bao-Ku Zhu⁴, Jian-Li Wang⁵, Jiang-Hua Chen⁶, Heba Abdallah⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, ERC of Membrane and Water Treatment (MOC), Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization (MOE), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; Kidney Disease Center, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
² College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
³ Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, ERC of Membrane and Water Treatment (MOC), Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization (MOE), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
⁴ Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, ERC of Membrane and Water Treatment (MOC), Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization (MOE), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. Electronic address: zhubk@zju.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China. Electronic address: wangjl@zjut.edu.cn.
⁶ Kidney Disease Center, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
⁷ Chemical Engineering and Pilot Plant Department, Engineering Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza12622, Egypt.

PMID: 30913514
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.03.088

Abstract

The development of highly efficient membranes technology using low-pressure driven filtration process, is one of the principal challenges in the wastewater treatment field, especially those aimed at the removal of trace heavy metals. In this work, a novel positively charged tight ultrafiltration (PCTUF) membrane was developed to remove heavy metal cations (Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Cd²⁺) from contaminated waters via electrostatic repulsion mechanism. The PCTUF membrane was fabricated from a new polymer with poly (vinyl chloride co dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), P (VC-co-DMA) via a nonsolvent induce phase separation (NIPS) process and following facile surface quaternization. The quaternization conditions, the pore structures and chemical properties of the membranes were investigated in detail. The optimally quaternized membrane possessed a positively charged surface and 3.27 nm charged channel with the water permeability of 84 L m^-2 h^-1 bar^-1. The rejections of heavy metal cations surpassed 95% for feed solutions containing 10 ppm heavy metal. Moreover, the influences of feed concentrations and the operating condition with pressure and pH on the membrane performances were also investigated. The results revealed that the prepared PCTUF membrane with its high perm-selectivity performance provides a worthy reference for highly efficient removal of heavy metal cations.

Keywords: Hazardous metal cations; Nnan effect; Polyvinyl chloride; Quaternization; Ultrafiltration.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't