Exfoliated Mg-Al-Fe layered double hydroxides/polyether sulfone mixed matrix membranes for adsorption of phosphate and fluoride from aqueous solutions.

Mg-Al-Fe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were exfoliated and incorporated in polyether sulfone membranes for the removal of phosphate and fluoride for the first time. The exfoliation methods, coagulation bath, LDH amount, interfering ions, adsorption isotherm, desorption and reuse of the membranes were investigated. It was found that LDHs could be quickly exfoliated in formamide/N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent mixtures with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as a stabilizer. The membranes displayed much higher adsorption capacity for phosphate (5.61mg/g) and faster adsorption rate than the un-exfoliated materials. With increased DMF content in the coagulation bath, the static and dynamic adsorption capacity rose. Interference from Cl- and SO42- (50mg/L) on adsorption of phosphates was not apparent. The membranes displayed excellent reusability in dynamic adsorption/desorption. The membranes also showed high adsorption capacity for fluorides (1.61mg/g).

Catalytic bubble-free hydrogenation reduction of azo dye by porous membranes loaded with palladium nanoparticles.

Catalytic bubble-free hydrogenation reduction of azo dye by porous membranes loaded with palladium (Pd) nanoparticles was studied for the first time. The effects of Pd loading, dye concentration and reuse repetitions of membranes were investigated. In reduction, the dye concentration decreased whereas the pH rose gradually. An optimal Pd loading was found. The catalytic membranes were able to be reused more than 3 times.

Synthesis of polyaluminum chloride with a membrane reactor: process characteristics and membrane fouling.

Polyaluminum chloride was synthesized with a membrane reactor, in which NaOH was added into AlCl3 solution through the membrane's micropores to reduce the NaOH droplets size. The content of the most efficient species increased to about 80%. The process characteristics in the reaction (i.e., flow velocity, pressure drop), and membrane fouling and cleaning were investigated. The evolution of both flow velocity and pressure drop during the reaction were related to changes in species distribution and solution viscosity. The process characteristics were well interpreted in terms of the Bernoulli equation. After reaction, the membranes were recovered by cleaning with diluted hydrochloride acid. This study is crucial for process design and scale-up of membrane reactors.

Facile preparation of COF composite membranes for nanofiltration by stoichiometric spraying layer-by-layer self-assembly.

Covalent organic framework (COF) membranes are attractive candidates for molecular separation. Herein, COF-LZU1 composite membranes were prepared by a stoichiometric spraying layer-by-layer self-assembly method for the first time. The membranes displayed a high rejection (>90%) and permeance (>400 L m-2 h-1 MPa-1, 50-880% higher than traditional membranes) for dyes (Mw 350-800).

Sandwich membranes based on PVDF-g-4VP and surface modified graphene oxide for Cu(II) adsorption.

UV photo-preactivation/thermally-induced grafting was employed for grafting 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and graphene oxide (GO) was modified with 4'-carboxy-2,2':6',2"-terpyridine (CTPy). Then sandwich PVDF-g-4VP/GO-CTPy/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane was fabricated for adsorption of Cu (II) as a model. The membrane formation, static adsorption thermodynamics, kinetics and dynamic adsorption/desorption were studied. The results showed that, the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG 4000) as porogen can significantly increase the porosity and adsorption capacity of the membranes. The adsorption could be well described by the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The breakthrough volume and saturated volume increased with rising GO-CTPy contents. The adsorption capacity of sandwich membranes was much higher than that of mixed matrix membranes. The sandwich membrane also exhibited excellent reusability in dynamic adsorption/desorption cycles, demonstrating great potential in adsorption of trace Cu (II).

From layered double hydroxide to spinel nanostructures: facile synthesis and characterization of nanoplatelets and nanorods.

Mg-Al spinel (MgAl2O4) nanorods and nanoplatelets transformed from Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (Mg-Al-LDHs) were synthesized via a combined hydrothermal method and calcination route using Al(NO3).9H2O and Mg(NO3)2.6H2O as raw materials. The nanorods and nanoplatelets were characterized by means of physical techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microcopy (HRTEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), thermogravimetric (TG), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. XRD patterns reveal that the Mg-Al-LDHs nanostructures were obtained under a hydrothermal reaction temperature of 200 degrees C and Mg-Al spinel nanostructures were fabricated via calcination of the Mg-Al-LDHs nanostructures at 750 degrees C. It can be seen from TEM that the sizes of the Mg-Al-LDHs nanoplatelets were about 20-40 nm and the diameters of the MgAl2O4 nanorods were ca. 6 nm. The HRTEM images indicate that the crystal lattice spaces of the MgAl2O4 nanorods and nanoplatelets are 0.282 and 0.287 nm, respectively.

Treatment of organophosphate-contaminated wastewater by acidic hydrolysis and precipitation.

Wastewater from commercial manufacture of organophosphate (OP) pesticide of O-methyl-O-(2-isopropyl salicylate) thiophosphorusyl amide contains large amounts of organophosphate, organic sulfides, COD and NH3-N. A treatment process including acidic hydrolysis and precipitation was explored in this paper. The effects of initial pH values, hydrolysis temperature and hydrolysis time on the removal of pollutants were investigated. The experimental results showed that, in the hydrolysis, with the decreasing initial pH value, the removal of OP, sulfide and COD rose whereas the NH3-N removal declined. Increased hydrolysis temperature and time favored the removal of all the pollutants. 15.0 wt% Ca(OH)2 was sufficient for the removal of inorganic phosphorus and residual NH3-N in the precipitation step. With this chemical process, the removal of total phosphorus (TP), organophosphate, sulfides and NH3-N exceeded 90%, and the removal of COD was about 60%. The BOD5/COD value was greatly improved from 0.05 to 0.3, and the bio-degradability of the wastewater was greatly improved. The NH3 generated in the process was absorbed with water and might be reused in the manufacture of the pesticide. The results showed that this comprehensive process is effective for the treatment of this typical unbio-degradable pesticide wastewater.

Novel sandwich structure adsorptive membranes for removal of 4-nitrotoluene from water.

Novel sandwich PES-SPES/PS-PDVB/PTFE adsorptive membranes were prepared by a filtration/immersion precipitation method and employed for the removal of 4-nitrotoluene from water. The static adsorption thermodynamics, kinetics, dynamic adsorption/desorption and membrane reusability were investigated. The results showed that the Freundlich model describes the adsorption isotherm satisfactorily. With increased PS-PDVB content, the maximum static adsorption capacity, partition coefficient, apparent adsorption rate constant, and dynamic adsorption capacity all significantly increased. The sandwich membranes showed much higher removal efficiency and adsorption capacity than those of mixed matrix membranes. With respect to dynamics adsorption/desorption, the sandwich membranes exhibited excellent reusability, with a removal efficiency greater than 95% even after five recycles.

Synthesis of nanosized BaSO4 and CaCO3 particles with a membrane reactor: effects of additives on particles.

Nanosized BaSO(4) particles, about 15 nm in size, were synthesized successfully by a membrane reactor at the aids of additives, in which Na(2)SO(4) solutions were added into BaCl(2) solutions gradually through the micropores of ultrafiltration membranes to control the saturation ratio, subsequently the nucleation and growth rates. The effects of additives species, additives concentrations, and membranes molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) on the particle morphology, along with the formation processes of particles, were investigated. CaCO(3) nanoparticles of 30-60 nm in size were also prepared by the reactor. The results revealed that the addition of methyl alcohol, ethanol etc. favor the synthesis of nanoparticles with small size. The particles size decreases with the increase in ethanol concentrations. With the increase in membrane MWCO, the products tend from nanoparticles towards aggregates.

A novel method to synthesize polyaluminum chloride with a membrane reactor.

Al13 or Alb is usually regarded as the most efficient species of polyaluminum chloride (PAC), the performance flocculant for water treatment. This paper was intended to report a new method to synthesize PAC with high content Alb, by using the membrane reactor. NaOH solutions were managed to permeate slowly through the micropores of ultrafiltration membrane into AICl3 solutions under the suitable transmembrane pressure(TMP). Meanwhile NaOH drops size was limited to nano-scale, resulting in dramatical reduction of the characteristic diffusion time and great increment of contact interface between the strong base and Al ions in solution to favor the formation of Al(OH)4-, the precursor of Al13, so few precipitates and much Alb are produced. When the initial concentration of AlCl3/NaOH is 0.40/2.0 (mol/L), MWCO = 10000, TMP = 0.0085 MPa, T = 305 K and B (molar ratio of OH-/Al3+) = 2.25, the quantity of Alb attains about 80%. The results of 27Al-NMR determination showed that the Al13 content is equal to Alb content. And our PAC product has shown better flocculation effects than the commercial product.