Titanium germanium carbide-doped polyethersulfone nanofiltration membrane for various dyes-contaminated water treatment

Expanding composite nanofiltration membranes with high permeability and antifouling properties for water and wastewater treatment are in the spotlight of researchers. Exploring new inorganic additives with high miscibility in the polymeric membranes could help the development of high-performance composite membranes. In this research, we synthesized the titanium germanium carbide (Ti₃GeC₂) MAX phase using the reactive sintering technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and zeta potential analyses were employed to characterize the Ti₃GeC₂ MAX phase. These techniques revealed that negatively charged Ti₃GeC₂ has a hexagonal crystal structure with a morphology of stacked nanolayers. Various amounts of Ti₃GeC₂ (0–0.75 wt%) were doped into polyethersulfone (PES) membranes using the phase inversion process. SEM, atomic force microscopy (AFM), viscosity, porosity, pore size, and contact angle techniques, along with leaching test, were carried out to study the Ti₃GeC₂ impact on the properties of PES membranes. The pure water flux (PWF) of 65.19 L/m² h and the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 86.97 % were achieved for the selected 0.25 wt% MAX composite membrane, which is higher than the PWF of 31.80 L/m² h and FRR of 69.98 % for the bare PES membrane. The mentioned composite membrane could retain more than 99 % of Direct black 38, Congo red, and Disperse yellow 54 dye solutions, together with an acceptable retention of 76.2 % for Basic violet 1, 69.3 % for Alizarin red S, and 65.4 % for cefixime solutions, respectively. The outcomes highlight the potential of the Ti₃GeC₂/PES composite membrane for treating various dyes-contaminated water/wastewater.