Removing of the Sulfur Compounds by Impregnated Polypropylene Fibers with Silver Nanoparticles-Cellulose Derivatives for Air Odor Correction

Aurelia Cristina Nechifor; Simona Cotorcea; Constantin Bungău; Paul Constantin Albu; Dumitru Pașcu; Ovidiu Oprea; Alexandra Raluca Grosu; Andreia Pîrțac; Gheorghe Nechifor

doi:10.3390/membranes11040256

Removing of the Sulfur Compounds by Impregnated Polypropylene Fibers with Silver Nanoparticles-Cellulose Derivatives for Air Odor Correction

Membranes (Basel). 2021 Apr 1;11(4):256. doi: 10.3390/membranes11040256.

Authors

Aurelia Cristina Nechifor¹, Simona Cotorcea¹, Constantin Bungău², Paul Constantin Albu³, Dumitru Pașcu¹, Ovidiu Oprea⁴, Alexandra Raluca Grosu¹, Andreia Pîrțac¹, Gheorghe Nechifor¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 1-7 Gheorghe Polizu St., 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
² Department of Engineering and Management, Faculty of Management and Technological Engineering, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania.
³ Department of Radioisotopes and Radiation Metrology, IFIN Horia Hulubei, 30 Reactorului St., 023465 Magurele, Romania.
⁴ Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 1-7 Gheorghe Polizu St., 011061 Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

The unpleasant odor that appears in the industrial and adjacent waste processing areas is a permanent concern for the protection of the environment and, especially, for the quality of life. Among the many variants for removing substance traces, which give an unpleasant smell to the air, membrane-based methods or techniques are viable options. Their advantages consist of installation simplicity and scaling possibility, selectivity; moreover, the flows of odorous substances are direct, automation is complete by accessible operating parameters (pH, temperature, ionic strength), and the operation costs are low. The paper presents the process of obtaining membranes from cellulosic derivatives containing silver nanoparticles, using accessible raw materials (namely motion picture films from abandoned archives). The technique used for membrane preparation was the immersion precipitation for phase inversion of cellulosic polymer solutions in methylene chloride: methanol, 2:1 volume. The membranes obtained were morphologically and structurally characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution SEM (HR SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), thermal analysis (TG, ATD). Then, the membrane performance process (extraction efficiency and species flux) was determined using hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and ethanethiol (C₂H₅SH) as target substances.

Keywords: air odor correction; cellulose; ethanethiol; hydrogen sulfide; membrane processes; membranes; polypropylene fibers; silver nanoparticles; sulfur compounds.