Highly hydrophobic oil−water separation membrane: reutilization of waste reverse osmosis membrane

doi:10.1007/s11705-022-2200-0

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (11) : 1606-1615 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2200-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Highly hydrophobic oil−water separation membrane: reutilization of waste reverse osmosis membrane

Zihan Liu^1,², Yang Luo^1,², Lianchao Ning^1,², Yong Liu¹, Ming Zhang^1,²(

)

¹. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
². Center of Membrane Materials and Engineering Technology, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China

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Abstract

The increasing applications of seawater desalination technology have led to the wide usage of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes, resulting in a large number of wasted reverse osmosis membranes. In this work, the base nonwoven layer of the wasted reverse osmosis membrane was successfully modified into the hydrophobic membrane via surface deposition strategy including TiO₂ and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS), respectively. Various techniques were applied to characterize the obtained membranes, which were then used to separate the oil–water system. The optimally modified membrane displayed good hydrophobicity with a contact angle of 135.2° ± 0.3°, and its oil–water separation performance was as high as 97.8%. After 20 recycle tests, the oil–water separation performance remained more than 96%, which was attributed to the film adhesion of the anchored TiO₂ and PFOTS layer on the surface. This work might provide a new avenue for recycling the wasted reverse osmosis membrane used in oily wastewater purification.

Keywords oil–water separation wasted reverse osmosis membrane hydrophobic modification

Corresponding Author(s): Ming Zhang

Online First Date: 01 November 2022 Issue Date: 13 December 2022

Cite this article:

Zihan Liu,Yang Luo,Lianchao Ning, et al. Highly hydrophobic oil−water separation membrane: reutilization of waste reverse osmosis membrane[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(11): 1606-1615.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-022-2200-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2022/V16/I11/1606

Fig.1 Schematic illustration of the fabrication process and oil–water separation performance of the modified membrane.

Tab.1 Programme of the orthogonal experiment

Tab.2 Results of the orthogonal experiment

Fig.2 SEM images of modified membrane M₁–M₉.

Fig.3 Low-resolution SEM images of (a) M₀, (b) TiO₂-loaded membrane and (c) TiO₂ + PFOTS-modified membrane, and high-resolution SEM images of (d) M₀, (e) TiO₂ loaded membrane and (f) TiO₂ + PFOTS-modified membrane.

Fig.4 EDS images of the (a) unmodified membrane, (b) TiO₂ + PFOTS-modified membrane. (c, d) EDS mapping images of C, O elements on the unmodified membrane, and (e–i) C, O, F, Ti, Si elements on the modified membrane.

Fig.5 Physicochemical characterization: (a) FTIR spectra of the pristine (M₀) and modified membrane (M_B); (b) XPS spectra of the pristine (M₀) and modified membrane (M_B); high-resolution C 1s spectrum of (c) M₀ and (d) M_B.

Fig.6 Wettability of the hydrophobic coating with various solutions and CA of M_B.

Fig.7 The oil/water separation process of (a) petroleum ether/water system; (b) carbon tetrachloride/water system; (c) petroleum ether water/carbon tetrachloride system, the water is blue (methyl blue dyeing), and the oil is orange-red (Sudan III dyeing).

Fig.8 (a) Separation efficiencies of M_B for carbon tetrachloride/ water system with different cycles. (b) The FRR of M_B for three oil testing systems with different cycles.

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