This work explored polysulfone (PS) – graphene oxide (GO) based porous membranes (PS-GO) as adsorber of seven selected organic contaminants of emerging concern (EOCs) including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, a dye and a surfactant from water. PS-GO was prepared by phase inversion method starting from a PS and GO mixture (5% w/w of GO). The porous PS-GO membranes showed asymmetric and highly porous micrometer sized pores on membrane top (diameter ≈20 μm) and bottom (diameter ≈2–5 μm) surfaces and tens of microns length finger like pores in the section. Nanomechanical mapping reveals patches of a stiffer material with Young modules comprised in the range 15–25 GPa, not present in PS pure membranes that are compatible with the presence of GO flakes on the membrane surfaces. PS-GO was immersed in EOCs spiked tap water and the adsorbance efficiency at different contact times and pH evaluated by HPLC analysis. Ofloxacin (OFLOX), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), rhodamine b (Rh), diclofenac (DCF) and triton X-100 (TRX) were removed with efficiency higher than 90% after 4 h treatments. Regeneration of PS-GO and reuse possibilities were demonstrated by washing with ethanol. The adsorption efficiencies toward OFLOX, Rh, DCF and carbamazepine (CBZ) were significantly higher than those of pure PS membrane. Moreover, PS-GO outperformed a commercial granular activated carbon (GAC) at low contact times and compared well at longer contact time for OFLOX, Rh, BP-3 and TRX suggesting the suitability of the newly introduced material for drinking water treatment.
Graphene oxide doped polysulfone membrane adsorbers for the removal of organic contaminants from water
Aluigi, Annalisa;
2017
Abstract
This work explored polysulfone (PS) – graphene oxide (GO) based porous membranes (PS-GO) as adsorber of seven selected organic contaminants of emerging concern (EOCs) including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, a dye and a surfactant from water. PS-GO was prepared by phase inversion method starting from a PS and GO mixture (5% w/w of GO). The porous PS-GO membranes showed asymmetric and highly porous micrometer sized pores on membrane top (diameter ≈20 μm) and bottom (diameter ≈2–5 μm) surfaces and tens of microns length finger like pores in the section. Nanomechanical mapping reveals patches of a stiffer material with Young modules comprised in the range 15–25 GPa, not present in PS pure membranes that are compatible with the presence of GO flakes on the membrane surfaces. PS-GO was immersed in EOCs spiked tap water and the adsorbance efficiency at different contact times and pH evaluated by HPLC analysis. Ofloxacin (OFLOX), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), rhodamine b (Rh), diclofenac (DCF) and triton X-100 (TRX) were removed with efficiency higher than 90% after 4 h treatments. Regeneration of PS-GO and reuse possibilities were demonstrated by washing with ethanol. The adsorption efficiencies toward OFLOX, Rh, DCF and carbamazepine (CBZ) were significantly higher than those of pure PS membrane. Moreover, PS-GO outperformed a commercial granular activated carbon (GAC) at low contact times and compared well at longer contact time for OFLOX, Rh, BP-3 and TRX suggesting the suitability of the newly introduced material for drinking water treatment.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
