© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
The demand to fabricate membranes much cheaper than usual expensive methods creates an opportunity to find low-cost and more available modifying agents for synthesising an appropriate membrane for membrane distillation (MD) process. In this work, reactive ethylene terpolymer was applied to modify a commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane for using in the desalination process. Elvaloy4170 with a hydrophobic structure containing three different functional groups was coated (different contents of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt%) on the top surface of the microporous commercial PVDF membrane and the resultant membranes were analysed under air-gap MD process. The fabricated membrane structures were determined by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to investigate their elemental and topographical properties. After experiments, the membrane with 1.5 wt% of Elvaloy4170 showed water vapour flux of 1.93 kg/m2h and salt rejection of >99.7 which confirmed its suitability to be used in the desalination process. Moreover, to assess the anti-fouling properties of the membranes, real seawater was used as feed solution, and as a result the membrane with 1.5 wt% of Elvaloy4170 presented flux recovery of 87% indicating its enhanced anti-fouling properties compared with the commercial PVDF membrane (flux recovery of 71%).
References
-
-
1)
-
12. Jafari, A., Kebria, M.R.S., Rahimpour, A., et al: ‘Graphene quantum dots modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous membranes with enhanced performance for air gap membrane distillation’, Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensification, 2018, 126, pp. 222–231 (doi: 10.1016/j.cep.2018.03.010).
-
2)
-
6. Kebria, M.R.S., Rahimpour, A., Bakeri, G., et al: ‘Experimental and theoretical investigation of thin ZIF-8/chitosan coated layer on air gap membrane distillation performance of PVDF membrane’, Desalination, 2019, 450, pp. 21–32 (doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2018.10.023).
-
3)
-
21. Zirehpour, A., Rahimpour, A., Ulbricht, M.: ‘Nano-sized metal organic framework to improve the structural properties and desalination performance of thin film composite forward osmosis membrane’, J. Membr. Sci., 2017, 531, pp. 59–67 (doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2017.02.049).
-
4)
-
9. Wang, X., Liu, J., Xu, W., et al: ‘Preparation of carbon microstructures by thermal treatment of thermosetting/thermoplastic polymers and their application in water purification’, Micro Nano Lett.., 2012, 7, (9), pp. 918–922 (doi: 10.1049/mnl.2012.0477).
-
5)
-
10. Efome, J.E., Baghbanzadeh, M., Rana, D., et al: ‘Effects of superhydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles on the performance of PVDF flat sheet membranes for vacuum membrane distillation’, Desalination, 2015, 373, pp. 47–57 (doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2015.07.002).
-
6)
-
20. Geckil, T., Seloglu, M.: ‘Performance properties of asphalt modified with reactive terpolymer’, Constr. Build. Mater., 2018, 173, pp. 262–271 (doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.036).
-
7)
-
4. Karimi, H., Rahimpour, A., Kebria, M.R.S.: ‘Pesticides removal from water using modified piperazine-based nanofiltration (NF) membranes’, Desalination Water Treat., 2016, 57, (52), pp. 24844–24854 (doi: 10.1080/19443994.2016.1156580).
-
8)
-
8. Sharifi, R., Hassani, A.H., Panahi, H.A., et al: ‘Performance of silver nanoparticle fixed on magnetic iron nanoparticles (Fe3O4−Ag) in water disinfection’, Micro Nano Lett.., 2018, 13, (4), pp. 436–441 (doi: 10.1049/mnl.2016.0727).
-
9)
-
5. Kebria, M.R.S., Jahanshahi, M.: ‘Nanofiltration membranes synthesized from polyethyleneimine for removal of MgSO4 from aqueous solution (RESEARCH NOTE)’, Int. J. Eng. Trans. B, 2014, 27, (8), pp. 1173–1178.
-
10)
-
22. Aktij, S.A., Rahimpour, A., Figoli, A.: ‘Low content nano-polyrhodanine modified polysulfone membranes with superior properties and their performance for wastewater treatment’, Environ. Sci. Nano, 2017, 4, (10), pp. 2043–2054 (doi: 10.1039/C7EN00584A).
-
11)
-
11. Efome, J.E., Rana, D., Matsuura, T., et al: ‘Enhanced performance of PVDF nanocomposite membrane by nanofiber coating: a membrane for sustainable desalination through MD’, Water Res.., 2016, 89, pp. 39–49 (doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.11.040).
-
12)
-
19. Ranjbaran, F., Omidkhah, M.R., Amooghin, A.E.: ‘The novel Elvaloy4170/functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes mixed matrix membranes: fabrication, characterization and gas separation study’, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng., 2015, 49, pp. 220–228 (doi: 10.1016/j.jtice.2014.11.032).
-
13)
-
18. Rahimpour, A., Seyedpour, S.F., Aghapour Aktij, S., et al: ‘Simultaneous improvement of antimicrobial, antifouling, and transport properties of forward osmosis membranes with immobilized highly-compatible polyrhodanine nanoparticles’, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2018, 52, (9), pp. 5246–5258 (doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b00804).
-
14)
-
16. Kebria, M.R.S., Jahanshahi, M., Rahimpour, A.: ‘SiO2 modified polyethyleneimine-based nanofiltration membranes for dye removal from aqueous and organic solutions’, Desalination, 2015, 367, pp. 255–264 (doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2015.04.017).
-
15)
-
14. Woo, Y.C., Tijing, L.D., Park, M.J., et al: ‘Electrospun dual-layer nonwoven membrane for desalination by air gap membrane distillation’, Desalination, 2017, 403, pp. 187–198 (doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2015.09.009).
-
16)
-
7. Mehrparvar, A., Rahimpour, A., Jahanshahi, M.: ‘Modified ultrafiltration membranes for humic acid removal’, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng., 2014, 45, (1), pp. 275–282 (doi: 10.1016/j.jtice.2013.06.003).
-
17)
-
2. Feng, C., Khulbe, K., Matsuura, T., et al: ‘Production of drinking water from saline water by air-gap membrane distillation using polyvinylidene fluoride nanofiber membrane’, J. Membr. Sci., 2008, 311, (1–2), pp. 1–6 (doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2007.12.026).
-
18)
-
3. Hou, D., Dai, G., Fan, H., et al: ‘Effects of calcium carbonate nano-particles on the properties of PVDF/nonwoven fabric flat-sheet composite membranes for direct contact membrane distillation’, Desalination, 2014, 347, pp. 25–33 (doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2014.05.028).
-
19)
-
1. Bonyadi, S., Chung, T.S.: ‘Flux enhancement in membrane distillation by fabrication of dual layer hydrophilic–hydrophobic hollow fiber membranes’, J. Membr. Sci., 2007, 306, (1–2), pp. 134–146 (doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2007.08.034).
-
20)
-
17. Mozafari, M., Abedini, R., Rahimpour, A.: ‘Zr-MOFs incorporated thin film nanocomposite-Pebax 1657 membranes dip coated on polymethylpentyne layer for efficient separation of CO2/CH4’, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, (26), pp. 12380–12392 (doi: 10.1039/C8TA04806A).
-
21)
-
15. Teoh, M.M., Chung, T.-S.: ‘Membrane distillation with hydrophobic macrovoid-free PVDF–PTFE hollow fiber membranes’, Sep. Purif. Technol., 2009, 66, (2), pp. 229–236 (doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2009.01.005).
-
22)
-
13. Tijing, L.D., Choi, J.-S., Lee, S., et al: ‘Recent progress of membrane distillation using electrospun nanofibrous membrane’, J. Membr. Sci., 2014, 453, pp. 435–462 (doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2013.11.022).
http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/mnl.2018.5703
Related content
content/journals/10.1049/mnl.2018.5703
pub_keyword,iet_inspecKeyword,pub_concept
6
6