Anti-fouling polyethersulfone nanofiltration membranes aided by amine-functionalized boron nitride nanosheets with improved separation performance

Vahid Vatanpour*, Hamid Karimi, Siamak Imanian Ghazanlou, Yaghoub Mansourpanah, Mohammad Reza Ganjali*, Alireza Badiei, Ehsan Pourbashir, Mohammad Reza Saeb

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nowadays, the implementation of a desirable membrane with high permeation and rejection properties in liquid and gas separation processes has become a competitive necessity in water purification and desalination. In this field, nanostructured membranes have enticed many researchers and industrialists to use them. Herein, an amine-functionalized boron nitride (BN) embedded microporous polyethersulfone (AFBN-PES) membrane was fabricated to examine the anti-fouling properties and separation performance of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Also, fouling parameters such as intrinsic resistance (Rm), pore resistance (Rp), cake resistance (Rc), and total resistance (Rt) were investigated, and a significant improvement in the anti-fouling characteristics of the fabricated MMMs was detected. Surprisingly, water permeation across AFBN-PES membrane increased two-fold compared to the bare PES, while its BSA and Reactive Blue 19 dye rejection capability remained over 99 %. Faster solvent-nonsolvent exchange during the preparation of polymeric membrane owing to the presence of AFBN nanosheets enhanced the hydrophilicity, changed the mean pore size, and decreased the surface roughness beyond the creation of larger microvoids in the sub-layer of MMMs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104454
JournalJournal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
Volume8
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

  • Amine-functionalized born nitride
  • Anti-fouling
  • Dye rejection
  • Dye removal
  • Mixed matrix membranes

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