Silane‐Crosslinked Asymmetric Polythiosemicarbazide Membranes for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration

Crosslinked polythiosemicarbazide (PTSC) membranes with a positively charged surface are fabricated via a reaction with (3‐glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane. The integrally asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes discussed here can be easily prepared by water‐induced phase separation using a PTSC solution in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The crosslinked PTSC membranes are stable in DMSO, N,N‐dimethylformamide, and tetrahydrofuran and they reject molecules of molecular weights (MW) above 1300 g mol^?1. The influence of the crosslinking agent on the surface charge, membrane solvent resistance, and membrane performance is discussed. The crosslinked asymmetric PTSC membranes totally reject Direct Red dye (MW 1373 g mol^?1), while the pristine PTSC membrane does not show any rejection for this dye. This finding suggests that an inorganic‐type‐network is formed during the crosslinking reaction, which tunes the pore size of the prepared membranes.     

Modified polydimethylsiloxane/polystyrene blended IPN pervaporation membrane for ethanol/water separation

In this article a modified polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) blended polystyrene (PS) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) membranes supported by Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) ultrafiltration membrane were prepared for the separation of ethanol in water by pervaporation application. The relationship between the surface characteristics of the surface‐modified PDMS membranes and their permselectivity for aqueous ethanol solutions by pervaporation are discussed. The IPN supported membranes were prepared by sequential IPN technique. The IPN supported membrane were tested for the separation performance on 10 wt % ethanol in water and were characterized by evaluating their mechanical properties, swelling behavior, density, and degree of crosslinking. The results indicated that separation performance, mechanical properties, density, and the percentage of swelling of IPN membranes were influenced by degree of crosslink density. Depending on the feed temperature, the supported membranes had separation factors between 2.03 and 6.00 and permeation rates between 81.66 and 144.03 g m^?2 h^?1. For the azeotropic water–ethanol mixture (10 wt % ethanol), the supported membrane had at 30°C a separation factor of 6.00 and a permeation rate of 85 g m^?2 h^?1. Compared to the PDMS supported membranes, the PDMS/PS IPN supported blend membrane ones had a higher selectivity but a somewhat lower permeability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

High‐performance composite nanofiltration membranes fabricated via ternary mixture: Complementary preponderance of the fluorine‐containing monomer 2,2′‐bis(1‐hydroxyl‐1‐trifluoromethyl‐2,2,2‐triflutoethyl)‐4,4′‐methylene dianiline and the rigid monomer bisphenol F

In a previous study, we proved that tailoring the polyamide backbone stiffness is an effective way to fabricate high‐performance polyamide nanofiltration (NF) membranes. However, in the previous study, we mainly focused on the flat membrane and did not consider its chlorine tolerance. In this study, by regulating the aqueous‐phase compositions in the interfacial polymerization process, chlorine tolerance on NF hollow‐fiber membranes was endowed while the membrane performance stayed high. The experimental results show that when the ratio of Piperazine (PIP)–bisphenol F (BPF)/2,2′‐bis(1‐hydroxyl‐1‐trifluoromethyl‐2,2,2‐triflutoethyl)‐4,4′‐methylene dianiline (BHTTM) was 5:1:4, the NF membrane possessed a permeate flux of 21.0 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1 and an Na₂SO₄ rejection up to 90.0%. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis also confirmed that the polymerization degree of the PIP–BPF–BHTTM NF membrane was the highest. Moreover, the NF membrane could tolerate active chlorine to over 10,000 ppm h Cl. After the active chlorine treatment, the permeate flux increased over 30.0 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1, and the Na₂SO₄ rejection was about 90.0%. Although the PIP–BHTTM NF membrane also possessed good chlorine tolerance, its permeate flux (after active chlorine treatment) was only 60% of that of the PIP–BPF–BHTTM NF membrane. Therefore, the PIP–BPF–BHTTM NF membrane possessed a combination of high flux and high chlorine tolerance and showed good potential in water treatment in rigorous environments. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46482.     

Selective separation of water from water–ethanol solution through quarternized poly(4-vinylpyridine-co-acrylonitrile) membranes by pervaporation technique

Polymer membranes having cationic charge site, poly(1-alkyl-4-vinylpyridinium iodide-co-acrylonitrile) (alkyl: methyl, butyl, or octyl) were prepared in terms of coulombic interaction for separation of water–ethanol mixtures. The incorporation of cationic charge site into the membrane led to improve not only separation factors (selectivity toward water) but also flux number in the separation of aqueous ethanol solution by pervaporation technique. Target values, which were requested to have from the viewpoint of industrial utilization for separation of aqueous ethanol solution were attained as follows: separation factor toward water over 50 and flux value over 500 g m^?2 h^?1, through poly(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium iodide-co-acrylonitrile) (membrane 3 ) (quarternized fraction of pyridinium moiety, 89.5%; mol fraction of pyridinium moiety, 0.034) and poly(1-butyl-4-vinylpyridinium iodide-co-acrylonitrile) (membrane 5 ) (quarternized fraction, 100%; mol fraction of pyridinium moiety, 0.038). It was found that the introduction of cationic charge site into the membrane was one of feasible methods to obtain suitable membranes for water permselective membranes in the separation of water–ethanol mixtures.     

Separation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) using γ‐Al2O3–clay composite ultrafiltration membrane

BACKGROUND: Ceramic membranes have received more attention than polymeric membranes for the separation and purification of bio‐products owing to their superior chemical, mechanical and thermal properties. Commercially available ceramic membranes are too expensive. This could be overcome by fabricating membranes using low‐cost raw materials. The aim of this work is to fabricate a low‐cost γ‐Al₂O₃–clay composite membrane and evaluate its potential for the separation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a function of pH, feed concentration and applied pressure. To achieve this, the membrane support is prepared using low‐cost clay mixtures instead of very expensive alumina, zirconia and titania materials. The cost of the membrane can be further reduced by preparing a γ‐alumina surface layer on the clay support using boehmite sol synthesized from inexpensive aluminium chloride instead of expensive aluminium alkoxide using a dip‐coating technique. RESULTS: The pore size distribution of the γ‐Al₂O₃‐clay composite membrane varied from 5.4–13.6 nm. The membrane was prepared using stable boehmite sol of narrow particle size distribution and mean particle size 30.9 nm. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the surface of the γ‐Al₂O₃–clay composite membrane is defect‐free. The pure water permeability of the support and the composite membrane were found to be 4.838 × 10^?6 and 2.357 × 10^?7 m³ m^?2 s^?1 kPa^?1, respectively. The maximum rejection of BSA protein was found to be 95%. It was observed that the separation performance of the membrane in terms of flux and rejection strongly depends on the electrostatic interaction between the protein and charged membrane. CONCLUSION: The successively prepared γ‐Al₂O₃‐clay composite membrane proved to possess good potential for the separation of BSA with high yield and could be employed as a low cost alternate to expensive ceramic membranes. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and in situ functionalization of microfiltration membranes via high internal phase emulsion templating

The continuous phase of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) can be polymerized to produce highly porous materials, known as polyHIPEs. The aim of this work was to synthesize polyHIPE microfiltration membranes having a hydrophobic bulk and a hydrophilic surface to enhance their performance. Therefore, in situ functionalization was performed through interfacial copolymerization of a hydrophobic monomer (butyl acrylate) in the continuous phase with a hydrophilic monomer (sodium acrylate) in the disperse phase. The functionalization of polyHIPEs was studied by using conductometric titration and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. We show that the surface charge density of poly(butyl acrylate)‐based polyHIPEs can be controlled by varying the concentration of sodium acrylate in the disperse phase. PolyHIPE microfiltration membranes have higher intrinsic permeability (around 1.31 × 10^?8 m²) in comparison to conventional microfiltration membranes. The interfacial copolymerization of sodium acrylate increases the permeability of microfiltration membranes. In addition, the rejection of polyHIPE microfiltration membranes was studied for the separation of microalgae. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Novel charged chitosan composite nanofiltration membranes containing chiral mesogenic group

To improve the performance of nanofiltration (NF) membranes, a chiral mesogenic compound, a positively charged compound, and a negatively charged compound were grafted to chitosan, respectively. Series of novel composite NF membranes were prepared by over‐coating the polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with the mixture of chitosan and modified chitosan. The chiral mesogenic compound, the positively charged compound, the negatively compound and their chitosan derivatives were characterized by infrared spectrophotometer, differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscope; the structure of the membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The performance of composite NF membranes was strictly related to the novel compounds grafted to chitosan and its composition. The rejection reached the maximum of 95.7% for CaCl₂ with P_2‐7 composite NF membrane, corresponding flux was 3155 Lm^?2h^?1. The rejection reached the maximum of 93% for Na₂SO₄ with P_3‐5 composite NF membrane, corresponding flux was 3879 Lm^?2h^?1. Comparing with conventional NF membranes, the membranes were used in low pressure with high flux, especially for the separation of high‐valence ions from solution. The membranes were typical charged NF membranes. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:22–30, 2017. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Green and feasible fabrication of loose nanofiltration membrane with high efficiency for fractionation of dye/NaCl mixture by taking advantage of membrane fouling

Loose nanofiltration membrane emerges as required recently, since it is hard for conventional nanofiltration membrane to fractionate mixture of dyes and salts in textile wastewater treatment. However, the polymeric membranes unavoidably suffer from membrane fouling, which was caused by the adsorption of organic pollutants (like dyes). Normally, the dye fouling layer will shrink membrane pore size, thus resulting in flux decline and rejection increase. It is thought that membrane fouling may be a double-edged sword and can be an advantage if properly utilized. Thereby, loose nanofiltration membranes were constructed here by a green yet effective method to fractionate dyes/salt mixture by taking advantage of membrane fouling without using poisonous ingredients. A commercially available polyacrylonitrile (PAN) ultrafiltration membrane with high permeability was chosen as the substrate, and dyes were used to contaminate PAN substrate and formed a stable barrier layer when adsorption of dyes reached dynamic equilibrium. The resultant PAN-direct red 80 (DR80) composite membranes displayed superior permeability (~128.4 L m⁻² h⁻¹) and high rejection (~99.9%) to DR80 solutions at 0.4 MPa. Moreover, PAN-DR80 membranes allowed fast fractionation of dyes/sodium chloride (NaCl) mixture, which maintained a negligible dye loss and a low NaCl rejection (~12.4%) with high flux of 113.6 L m⁻² h⁻¹ at 0.4 MPa. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47438.     

New thin-film composite reverse osmosis membranes and spiral wound modules

Two new series of thin-film composite reverse osmosis membranes have been developed and fabricated into spiral wound modules. The NTR-7100 series membrane is able to desalt sea and brackish water. The NTR-7250 membrane is designed for use at pressures below 20 kg/cm². The membrane has a very high water permeability and is resistant to chemical and microbiological attack. In particular, the membrane is stable to chlorine, as shown by long-term reverse osmosis tests with tap water containing about 1 ppm of residual chlorine. The membrane has an unusual pattern of solute rejection. Salts containing divalent anions, such as sodium sulphate or magnesium sulfate, are rejected more than 98%; while salts with monovalent anions and bivalent cations, such as magnesium chloride, are rejected about 90% and salts with monovalent anions and cations, such as sodium chloride, are rejected 30–50%. Neutral solutes have relatively high rejection; for example, glucose, 90% and sucrose, <99%.     

Preparation of graphene oxide/polyamide composite nanofiltration membranes for enhancing stability and separation efficiency

Polyamide (PA) NF membranes are synthesized on a hollow fiber support by the interfacial polymerization (IP) of piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC). Then, GO is coated on the PA layer to decorate the NF membrane surface (denoted GO/PA-NF). This strategy aims to improve the hydrophilicity, chlorine resistance and separation stability of the membrane. The optimization, chemical composition, morphology, and hydrophilicity of the synthesized GO/PA-NF membrane are characterized. Results indicate that the optimized GO/PA-NF in terms of rejection rate and flux are with 0.05 wt% GO. The rejection of GO/PA-NF for Na2SO₄ and MgSO₄ is 99.4% and 96.9%, respectively. Even if the GO/PA-NF is immersed in 1000 ppm NaClO solution for 48 h, the NF membrane still maintains stable salt rejection. The developed NF membranes exhibit excellent treatment performance on dying wastewater. The permeate flux and rejection of GO/PA-NF toward Congo red solution are determined to be 44.2 L/m²h and 100%, respectively. Compared with the PA membrane, GO/PA-NF presents a higher rejection for Na₂SO₄ (99.4%) and a lower rejection for NaCl (less than 20%), which shows that the NF membranes have a better divalent/monovalent salt separation performance. This study highlights the superior performance of GO/PA-NF and shows its high potential for application in wastewater treatment.     

A thin film composite membrane supported by a hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol‐co‐ethylene) nanofiber membrane: Preparation,characterization, and application in nanofiltration

In this study, a fabricated hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol‐co‐ethylene) (PVA‐co‐PE) nanofiber membrane was used as the middle support layer to prepare thin film composite (TFC) membranes for nanofiltration. The effects of the supporting nonwoven layer, grams per square meter (GSM) of nanofiber, reaction time, heat treatment, monomer concentration, operating pressure, and pH value on the separation performance of the TFC membranes were analyzed. These results show that the TFC membranes prepared with the PVA‐co‐PE nanofiber membrane can be used to filtrate different metal ions. For NaCl, Na₂SO₄, CaCl₂, CuCl₂, CuSO₄, and methyl orange solutions, the rejection rates of the TFC membrane with nonwoven polyester as the supporting layer and a nanofiber GSM of 12.8 g/m² are 87.9%, 93.4%, 92.0%, 93.1%, 95.8%, and 100%, respectively. This indicates the potential application of the PVA‐co‐PE nanofiber membrane in the preparation of nanofiltration and reverse‐osmosis TFC membranes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46261.     

Alkyl amine functional dextran macromonomer‐based thin film composite loose nanofiltration membranes for separation of charged and neutral solutes

Thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membranes with defined porous structure of the separation layer are desirable for the concentration of neutral solute and separation of salts from a mixture. Herein, we report the formation of TFC membranes composed of polyamide (PA) separation layer by the interfacial polymerization between new dextran‐butyl amine (Dex‐NH₂) macromonomer and trimesoyl chloride on polysulfone support membrane. The membranes prepared with 1%–1.5% (wt/vol) of Dex‐NH₂ exhibited water permeance of 110–116 L m^?2 h^?1 MPa^?1 with 62%–71% rejection of Na₂SO₄ and 12%–14% rejection of MgCl₂. The membranes also showed about 91% rejection of poly(ethylene glycol) of molecular weight 2000 g/mol and about 11% rejection of NaCl. A decrease in permeance and ions selectivity was observed with increasing concentration of Dex‐NH₂. The dextran chains attached to the PA network restrict the diffusion of Dex‐NH₂ toward the interfacial zone and thereby assist the formation of porous and thin PA layer compared to that when free amine (alkyl diamine) was used. These membranes are applicable for the separation of small molecular weight neutral solutes from mixture containing monovalent salts. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 45301.     

Enhancement of flux and solvent stability of Matrimid® thin‐film composite membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration

The development of high flux and solvent‐stable thin‐film composite (TFC) organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes was reported. A novel cross‐linked polyimide substrate, consisting of a thin skin layer with minimum solvent transport resistance and a sponge‐like sublayer structure that could withstand membrane compaction under high‐pressure was first fabricated. Then the solvent flux was significantly enhanced without compromising the solute rejection by the coupling effects of (1) the addition of triethylamine/camphorsulfonic acid into the monomer solution, and (2) the combined post‐treatments of glycerol/sodium dodecyl sulphate immersion and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) filtration. Finally, the long‐term stability of the TFC membrane in aprotic solvents such as DMSO was improved by post‐crosslink thermal annealing. The novel TFC OSN membrane developed was found to have superior rejection to tetracycline (MW: 444 g/mol) but was very permeable to alcohols such as methanol (5.12 lm^?2h^?1bar^?1) and aprotic solvents such as dimethylformamide (3.92 lm^?2h^?1bar^?1) and DMSO (3.34 lm^?2h^?1bar^?1). © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3623–3633, 2014     

Separation of Carboxylic Acids from Carboxylates by Diffusion Dialysis

Abstract

Acetic acid/sodium acetate and propionic acid/sodium propionate were separated by the diffusion dialysis technique using Neosepta AFN‐7 and Selemion DSV membranes. Accounting for molarities of carboxylic acids and salts in broths produced by the pH controlled bacterial fermentation (pH 4–6), the experiments were carried out with carboxylates in excess of acids. The sorption equilibria established for acetic acid, propionic acid, and the sodium salts of both acids (single solute experiments) revealed a high sorption of acids in both membranes and the rejection of carboxylates. The partition coefficients were found to be from unity up to 2 for the acids and 0.04–0.05 for the salts. Reflecting a high sorption, the fluxes for the acids amounted from 1.5 to 2.0 mol · m^?2 · h^?1 and only 0.07–0.08 mol · m^?2 · h^?1 for the salts (one molar solutions). The separation factors computed upon the experiments performed with the ternary solutions were found between 20 to 37 for the Neosepta AFN‐7 membrane and about 29 for the Selemion DSV membrane. Accounting additionally, for the results of the separation of lactic acid from sodium lactate reported in our earlier paper the results prove the diffusion dialysis to be applicable to the separation of mean strength and weak carboxylic acids from their salts.     

Enhanced hydrophilic polysulfone hollow fiber membranes with addition of iron oxide nanoparticles

Membranes are at the heart of hemodialysis treatment functions to remove excess metabolic waste such as urea. However, membranes made up of pure polymers and hydrophilic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone suffer problems of low flux and bio‐incompatibility. Hence, this study aimed to improve polysulfone (PSf ) membrane surface properties by the addition of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs ). The membrane surface properties and separation performance of neat PSf membrane and membrane filled with IONPs at a loading of 0.2 wt% were investigated and compared. The membranes were characterized in terms of morphology, pure water permeability (PWP ) and protein rejection using bovine serum albumin (BSA ). A decrease in contact angle value from 66.62° to 46.23° for the PSf /IONPs membrane indicated an increase in surface hydrophilicity that caused positive effects on the PWP and BSA rejection of the membrane. The PWP increased by 40.74% to 57.04 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1 when IONPs were incorporated due to the improved interaction with water molecules. Furthermore, the PSf /IONPs membrane rejected 96.43% of BSA as compared to only 91.14% by the neat PSf membrane. Hence, the incorporation of IONPs enhanced the PSf hollow fiber membrane hydrophilicity and consequently improved the separation performance of the membrane for hemodialysis application. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

聚偏氟乙烯-聚酰胺管式复合膜的分离性能研究

以聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)管式超滤膜为基膜,无水哌嗪(PIP)为水相单体,均苯三甲基酰氯(TMC)为有机相单体,采用界面聚合法制备了不同截留性能的PVDF/聚酰胺(PA)管式复合膜。研究了不同性能管式复合膜的截留分子量、膜表面荷电性测试、对无机盐的截留性能,以及染料废水脱盐的应用。实验结果表明,截留率R(Mg SO4)由97%~5%的复合膜相应的截留相对分子质量为300~45×10³。对于4种无机盐的截留率由高到低依次为Na₂SO₄、MgSO₄、Na Cl、Mg Cl₂;p H为4~11的环境下管式复合膜表面呈负电性;R(Mg SO₄)分别为90%与97%的管式复合膜对染料的截留率在99.4%以上,透盐率高于80%,有效的实现了染料废水脱盐及染料回用。     

Surface modification of polyacrylonitrile based ultrafiltration membrane

Ultrafiltration membrane based on polyacrylonitrile prepared by phase inversion method using zinc chloride as an additive showed more than 90% rejection for BSA and 90–110 lm^?2 h^?1 water flux. The surface modification of this membrane was studied using ethanolamine, triethylamine, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide solutions. The effect of base treatment time and temperature on water flux and rejection was investigated. The membranes exhibited swelling by NaOH treatment followed by deswelling by HCl post‐treatment, similar to pH responsive membranes. The treatment by organic as well as inorganic bases improved water flux with a slight lowering in BSA rejection by dead‐end mode type treatment. A 230% increase in water flux was achieved by sodium hydroxide treatment in crossflow mode without a noticeable pore swelling by SEM. The contact angle of the modified membranes was decreased as compared to the unmodified one indicating appreciable surface modification. As the treatment time or temperature increased, the ESCA analysis showed increased population of Na‐carboxylate groups. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 4378–4385, 2006     

Poly(ether sulfone) supported hybrid poly(vinyl alcohol)–maleic acid–silicone dioxide membranes for the pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures

Microporous poly(ether sulfone) (PES) supported hybrid polymer–inorganic membranes were prepared by the crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), maleic acid (MA), and SiO₂ via an aqueous sol–gel route and a solution‐casting method. The membrane performance was tested for the pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures from 20 to 60 °C with a feed ethanol concentration of 96 wt %. The membrane characterization results reveal that different SiO₂ loadings affected the crystallinity and roughness of the membranes. The PVA–MA–SiO₂ membrane containing 10 wt % SiO₂ showed that SiO₂ nanoparticles were well dispersed within the polymer matrix; this resulted in significant enhancements in both the flux and selectivity. The membrane achieved a high water permeability of 1202 g·μm·m^?2 h^?1 kPa^?1 and a selectivity of 1027 for the separation of a 96 wt % ethanol‐containing aqueous solution. This enhanced membrane performance might have been due to the dense crosslinking membrane network, increased free volume, and uniform distribution of SiO₂ nanoparticles. Both the water and ethanol fluxes increased with the feed water concentration and temperature. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44839.     

A melamine-based covalent organic framework nanomaterial as a nanofiller in polyethersulfone mixed matrix membranes to improve separation and antifouling performance

This research reported developing a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane using covalent organic frameworks (COFs) nanoparticle with a mean dimension of 30 nm. The SNW-1 (Schiff-based network) COF was synthesized using precursors of melamine and terephthalic acid and then characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and FTIR analyses. The influence of different loadings of the COF was evaluated on the permeability, antifouling behavior and dye/salt rejection. The addition of SNW-1 caused a reduction in surface roughness and an improvement in hydrophilicity of the nanocomposite membranes, which improved their flux and fouling resistance considerably. The improvement of water flux, 2.6 times, was observed by adding 0.5 wt% COF to the membrane matrix. The 0.5 wt% COF membrane presented the best water permeability, 38.9 L/m² h bar BSA solution flux, dye rejection of 98.7% for Reactive Green 19 and 62.6% for Reactive yellow 39, 52.9% Na₂SO₄ and 24.5% NaCl salt rejections. Zeta potential and salt rejection trend indicated a negative surface charge on the nanocomposite membrane. Fouling experiments by BSA protein solution exhibited that the FRR reached 88.9% for 2 wt% COF membrane. Thus, employing SNW-1 into PES matrix resulted in a promising nanofiltration membrane for dye separation and moderate salt separation with suitable antifouling properties.     

Sulfonation of Phenolated Kraft Lignin to Produce Water Soluble Products

Kraft lignin is water insoluble and has limited end-use applications. To produce water soluble lignin-based products, the modification of softwood kraft lignin through phenolation followed by sulfonation of sulfuric acid or sodium sulfite treatment were investigated in this work. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and thermo-gravimetric analysis were also considered for characterizing the lignin-based products. The results showed that phenolation pretreatment was effective to generate sulfonated lignin (SAP-lignin) by sulfuric acid treatment with a high charge density (3.12 meq/g) and solubility, which is due to the addition of sulfonation sites on the phenolic ring. However, sodium sulfite treatment of phenolated lignin generated sulfonated lignin (SSP-lignin) with the charge density of 1.20 meq/g due to hindered sulfonation by occupation of reactive α-position. SAP-lignin was soluble across the tested pH range of 1–13, but SSP became insoluble at a pH lower than 3. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that phenolation pretreatment reduced the thermal resistance of modified lignin when compared to kraft lignin, while SAP-lignin exhibited the highest thermal resistance due to condensation under sulfuric acid treatment. SAP- and SSP-lignin were successfully used as a coagulant for dye removal from simulated solutions as they could remove 72.1 and 90.4% of ethyl violet from a simulated dye solution, respectively.