Improved blending strategy for membrane modification by virtue of surface segregation using surface-tailored amphiphilic nanoparticles

doi:10.1007/s11783-016-0875-5

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2016, Vol. 10

Issue (6) : 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-016-0875-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Improved blending strategy for membrane modification by virtue of surface segregation using surface-tailored amphiphilic nanoparticles

Shuai Liang¹(

),Peng Gao¹,Xiaoqi Gao¹,Kang Xiao²,Xia Huang³(

)

¹. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
². College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
³. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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Abstract

Two types of amphiphilic nanoparticles were prepared via silanization reaction.

Amphiphilic nanoparticles tend to protrude from membrane matrix by segregation.

Blending with amphiphilic nanoparticles further enhances membrane hydrophilicity.

Excessive silanization cause adverse effect on blending efficiency.

Membrane modification is one of the most feasible and effective solutions to membrane fouling problem which tenaciously hampered the further augmentation of membrane separation technology. Blending modification with nanoparticles (NPs), owing to the convenience of being incorporated in established membrane production lines, possesses an advantageous viability in practical applications. However, the existing blending strategy suffers from a low utilization efficiency due to NP encasement by membrane matrix. The current study proposed an improved blending modification approach with amphiphilic NPs (aNPs), which were prepared through silanization using 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) as coupling agents and ZnO or SiO₂ as pristine NPs (pNPs), respectively. The Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses revealed the presence of appropriate organic components in both the ZnO and SiO₂ aNPs, which verified the success of the silanization process. As compared with the pristine and conventional pNP-blended membranes, both the ZnO aNP-blended and SiO₂ aNP-blended membranes with proper silanization (100% and 200% w/w) achieved a significantly increased blending efficiency with more NPs scattering on the internal and external membrane surfaces under scanning electron microscope observation. This improvement contributed to the increase of membrane hydrophilicity. Nevertheless, an extra dosage of the TMSPMA led to an encasement of NPs, thereby adversely affecting the properties of the resultant membranes. On the basis of all the tests, 100% (w/w) was selected as the optimum TMSPMA dosage for blending modification for both the ZnO and SiO₂ types.

Keywords Membrane modification Nanoparticle Hydrophilic Amphiphilic Blending

PACS:

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Corresponding Author(s): Shuai Liang,Xia Huang

Issue Date: 27 September 2016

Cite this article:

Shuai Liang,Peng Gao,Xiaoqi Gao, et al. Improved blending strategy for membrane modification by virtue of surface segregation using surface-tailored amphiphilic nanoparticles[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2016, 10(6): 9.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-016-0875-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2016/V10/I6/9

Fig.1 Schematic protocol to prepare the amphiphilic nanoparticles (aNPs) via silanization reaction. 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) was employed as a saline coupling agent to introduce organic molecule chains to the pristine NP (pNP) surfaces thereby rendering the NPs amphiphilic.

Tab.1 Recipes of different casting solutions for membrane fabrication

Fig.2 Comparison of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the pNPs and surface-tailored aNPs for two types of materials: (a) ZnO and (b) SiO₂. A dosage of 100% (w/w-NPs) TMSPMA was used to prepare the amphiphilic NPs.

Fig.3 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses of the pNPs and aNPs for two types of materials: (a) ZnO and (b) SiO₂. A dosage of 100% (w/w-NPs) TMSPMA was used to prepare the amphiphilic NPs.

Fig.4 SEM top views ((a), (b), (c), (g), (h), and (i)) and sectional views ((d), (e), (f), (j), (k), and (l)) of the pristine membrane, M-pNPs, and M-aNPs-100% for both the ZnO and SiO₂ types.

Fig.5 Atomic percent of (a)Zn and (b)Si on the surface of the corresponding M-pNPs, M-aNPs-200%, M-aNPs-400%, and M-aNPs-800%.

Fig.6 Contact angles of deionized (DI) water on the pristine membranes (solid bars), membranes blended with pNPs (open bars; designated as M-pNPs), and membranes blended with different aNPs silanized with varied TMSPMA dosage ranging from 100% w/w-NPs to 800% w/w-NPs (patterned bars; designated as M-aNPs-100%, M-aNPs-200%, M-aNPs-400%, and M-aNPs-800%, respectively). Modification efficiencies using two types of NPs−(a) ZnO and (b) SiO₂−were compared. (c) Schematic diagram illustrating a probable effect of excessive salinization with extra TMSPMA dosage on NP morphology.

Fig.7 Water permeability of the pristine membrane, M-pNPs, M-aNPs-100%, M-aNPs-200%, and M-aNPs-400% for two types of NPs: ZnO and SiO₂.

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