Efficient and Sustainable Bidentate Amines-Functionalized Resins for Removing Ag+, Cu2+, Pb2+, and Fe3+ from Water.

We evaluate the effectiveness of chelating resins (CR) derived from Merrifield resin (MR) and 1,2-phenylenediamine (PDA), 2,2'-dipyridylamine (DPA), and 2-(aminomethyl)pyridine (AMP) as adsorbent dosimeters for Ag+, Cu2+, Fe3+, and Pb2+ cations from water under competitive and noncompetitive conditions. MR-PDA, MR-DPA, and MR-AMP were obtained in a 95-97% yield and characterized by IR, fluorescence, and SEM. The ability of CRs as adsorbents was determined by batch and flow procedures. MR-PDA showed a batch adsorption capacity order of Fe3+ (29.8 mg/g) > Ag+ (2.7 mg/g) > Pb2+ (2.6 mg/g) at pH 3.4. The flow adsorption showed affinity towards the Ag+ cation at pH 7 (18.4 mg/g) and a reusability of 10 cycles. In MR-DPA, the batch adsorption capacity order was Ag+ (9.1 mg/g) > Pb2+ (8.2 mg/g) > Cu2+ (3.5 mg/g) at pH 5. The flow adsorption showed affinity to the Cu2+ cation at pH 5 (2.2 mg/g) and a reuse of five cycles. In MR-AMP, the batch adsorption capacity was Ag+ (17.1 mg/g) at pH 3.4. The flow adsorption showed affinity to the Fe3+ cation at pH 2 (4.3 mg/g) and a reuse of three cycles. The three synthesized and reusable CRs have potential as adsorbents for Ag+, Cu2+, Fe3+, and Pb2+ cations and showed versatility in metal removal for water treatment.

Preparation of Thin-Film Composite Nanofiltration Membranes Doped with N- and Cl-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Water Desalination.

In the present work, chemically modified graphene oxide (GO) was incorporated as a crosslinking agent into thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes for water desalination applications, which were prepared by the interfacial polymerization (IP) method, where the monomers were piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC). GO was functionalized with monomer-containing groups to promote covalent interactions with the polymeric film. The composite GO/polyamide (PA) was prepared by incorporating amine and acyl chloride groups into the structure of GO and then adding these chemical modified nanomaterial during IP. The effect of functionalized GO on membrane properties and performance was investigated. Chemical composition and surface morphology of the prepared GO and membranes were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The fabricated composite membranes exhibited a significant increase in permeance (from 1.12 to 1.93 L m-2 h-1 bar-1) and salt rejection for Na2SO4 (from 95.9 to 98.9%) and NaCl (from 46.2 to 61.7%) at 2000 ppm, when compared to non-modified membranes. The amine- and acyl chloride-functionalized GO showed improved dispersibility in the respective phase.