Influence of nanoparticle type on the performance of nanocomposite membranes for wastewater treatment

Abstract

The incorporation of various inorganic additives in the membrane matrix has become a versatile approach in recent times. In this current work, different inorganic nanoparticles including zinc oxide (ZnO), silicon dioxide (SiO2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), graphene oxide (GO), and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) were blended with polyethersulfone to produce a mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) via non-solvent induced phase separation method in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone and dimethylacetamide as pore former and solvent, respectively. The effects of these inorganic nanoparticles on physicochemical properties and the efficiency of the as-membranes for rhodamine B (RhB) dye removal from textile wastewater were conducted and compared systematically. All MMMs exhibit higher RhB removal efficiency within the range of 91.96–96.92 % as compared to the pristine membrane with a value of 85.53 %. Among the produced membranes, membrane fabricated with GO nanoparticles displayed the highest pure water flux of 23.32 L/m2 h and permeate flux of 10.19 L/m2 h. It also displayed the highest hydrophilicity with a contact angle value of 55.32 ± 0.10°. Besides, it presented the lowest fouling phenomenon among the membranes with flux recovery ratio and relative flux reduction of 55.99 % and 56.31 %, respectively.