Performance improvement of polyethersulfone membranes with Ti3AlCN MAX phase in the treatment of organic and inorganic pollutants.

In this work, the hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was modified by incorporating Ti3AlCN MAX phase. Synthesis of Ti3AlCN MAX phase was performed using the reactive sintering method. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed a 3D compressed layered morphology for the synthesized MAX phase. The Ti3AlCN MAX phase was added to the casting solution, and the mixed-matrix membranes were fabricated by the non-solvent induced phase inversion method. The performance and antifouling features of bare and modified membranes were explored by pure water flux, flux recovery ratio (FRR), and fouling resistance parameters. Through the modification of membranes by introducing the Ti3AlCN MAX phase, the enhancement of these features was observed, in which the membrane containing 1 wt% of MAX phase showed 17.7 L/m2.h.bar of permeability and 98.6% for FRR. Also, the separation efficiency of all membranes was evaluated by rejecting organic and inorganic pollutants. The Ti3AlCN MAX membranes could reject 96%, 95%, and 88% of reactive blue 50, Rose Bengal, and azithromycin antibiotics, respectively, as well as 98%, 80%, 86%, and 36% of Pb2+, As5+, Na2SO4, and NaCl, respectively. Finally, the outcomes indicated the Ti3AlCN MAX phase was an excellent and efficient novel additive for modifying the PES membrane.

Fabrication of the PES Membrane Embedded with Plasma-Modified Zeolite at Different O2 Pressures.

In this research, the non-thermal glow discharge plasma process was implemented to modify the surface of natural clinoptilolite zeolite before incorporation into the polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. The influence of plasma gas pressure variation on the fouling resistance and separation performance of the prepared membranes was studied. Fourier transform infrared, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses of the unmodified and modified clinoptilolites revealed the Si-OH-Al bond's development during plasma treatment and the change in surface characteristics. In terms of performance, increasing the plasma gas pressure during clinoptilolite treatment resulted in the twofold enhancement of water flux from 91.2 L/m2 h of bare PES to 188 L/m2 h of the membrane containing plasma-treated clinoptilolite at 1.0 Torr pressure. Meanwhile, the antifouling behavior of membranes was improved by introducing more hydrophilic functional groups derived from the plasma treatment process. Additionally, the enhanced dye separation of membranes was indicated by the separation of 99 and 94% of reactive green 19 and reactive red 195, respectively.

Ti2AlN MAX phase as a modifier of cellulose acetate membrane for improving antifouling and permeability properties.

The development of novel materials for the modification of filtration membranes is necessary to enhance their performance. In this study, the application of MAX phase-based material in the modification of cellulose acetate (CA) ultrafiltration membrane is reported to improve hydrophilicity, permeability, dye rejection and antifouling properties. Firstly, the Ti2AlN MAX phase was synthesized and exfoliated under ultrasonic to obtain nanosheets with an average width of 35 nm. Then, the influence of the prepared MAX phase on the CA membrane performance was assessed by blending different concentrations of it (0-1 wt%). The flux of pure water and bovine serum albumin protein solution was improved 27.5 % and 37.5 % by blending 0.5 wt% of the MAX phase into the matrix of the membrane. Moreover, the 0.5 wt% MAX/CA nanocomposite membrane represented ameliorated antifouling property with a flux recovery ratio of 86.3 %. This study showed that the MAX phase could be considered propitious additives to modify polymeric membrane performance.

Development of Ti2AlN MAX phase/cellulose acetate nanocomposite membrane for removal of dye, protein and lead ions.

To our knowledge, this study was carried out because there is no other study using Ti2AlN MAX phase material as an inorganic additive to improve the performance of the cellulose acetate (CA) membrane. In this research, the effect of titanium aluminum nitride (Ti2AlN) MAX phase on the performance of CA polymeric membrane was investigated. In the first step, the Ti2AlN MAX phase was synthesized via the reactive sintering method and characterized. The Successful synthesis of the MAX phase with high purity in the hexagonal crystalline structure was confirmed with the XRD pattern. The prepared MAX phase was used as a hydrophilic inorganic additive to improve the performance of the CA membrane. An improvement in hydrophilicity of the CA membranes was observed by incorporating the MAX phase into the matrix of membranes. The nanocomposite membrane containing optimum content of MAX phase (0.75 wt%) showed a threefold increase in permeability during filtration of pure water and dye solutions. In addition, the optimum nanocomposite membrane exhibited an improved flux recovery ratio of 92.7 % with a high removal efficiency of 70.7 % for reactive black 5, 93.5 % for reactive red 120, and >98 % for bovine serum albumin. Finally, the rejection of different salts was investigated, and the optimum nanocomposite showed high rejection for lead ions (97 %) with moderate rejection for Na2SO4 (>55 %) and NaCl (>30 %). The results of this research demonstrated the high potential of MAX phase-based materials for improving polymeric membranes.