Conjugation of silica nanoparticles with cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol 300 membrane for reverse osmosis using MgSO4 solution

Aneela Sabir; Muhammad Shafiq; Atif Islam; Faiza Jabeen; Amir Shafeeq; Adnan Ahmad; Muhammad Taqi Zahid Butt; Karl I Jacob; Tahir Jamil

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.09.042

Conjugation of silica nanoparticles with cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol 300 membrane for reverse osmosis using MgSO4 solution

Carbohydr Polym. 2016 Jan 20:136:551-9. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.09.042. Epub 2015 Sep 25.

Authors

Aneela Sabir¹, Muhammad Shafiq², Atif Islam², Faiza Jabeen², Amir Shafeeq³, Adnan Ahmad², Muhammad Taqi Zahid Butt⁴, Karl I Jacob⁵, Tahir Jamil²

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Department of Polymer Engineering and Technology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan. Electronic address: aneela.pet.ceet@pu.edu.pk.
² Department of Polymer Engineering and Technology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
³ Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (ICET), University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
⁴ Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.

PMID: 26572387
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.09.042

Abstract

Thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) method was used to synthesize polymer matrix (PM) membranes for reverse osmosis from cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol (CA/PEG300) conjugated with silica nanoparticles (SNPs). Experimental data showed that the conjugation of SNPs changed the surface properties as dense and asymmetric composite structure. The results were explicitly determined by the permeability flux and salt rejection efficiency of the PM-SNPs membranes. The effect of SNPs conjugation on MgSO4 salt rejection was more significant in magnitude than on permeation flux i.e. 2.38 L/m(2)h. FTIR verified that SNPs were successfully conjugated on the surface of PM membrane. DSC of PM-SNPs shows an improved Tg from 76.2 to 101.8 °C for PM and PM-S4 respectively. Thermal stability of the PM-SNPs membranes was observed by TGA which was significantly enhanced with the conjugation of SNPs. The micrographs of SEM and AFM showed the morphological changes and increase in the valley and ridges on membrane surface. Experimental data showed that the PM-S4 (0.4 wt% SNPs) membrane has maximum salt rejection capacity and was selected as an optimal membrane.

Keywords: MgSO(4) salt solution; Polymer matrix; Reverse osmosis; Silica nanoparticles.

MeSH terms

Cellulose / analogs & derivatives*
Cellulose / chemistry
Magnesium Sulfate / chemistry
Membranes, Artificial*
Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Osmosis*
Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry*
Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*

Substances

Membranes, Artificial
acetylcellulose
Polyethylene Glycols
Magnesium Sulfate
Silicon Dioxide
Cellulose