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Enhanced water flux through graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets membrane by incorporating polyacrylic acid
Author(s) -
Wang Yanjie,
Liu Lingfei,
Xue Jian,
Hou Jiamin,
Ding Li,
Wang Haihui
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.16076
Subject(s) - polyacrylic acid , membrane , ultrafiltration (renal) , chemical engineering , biofouling , materials science , fouling , membrane technology , graphitic carbon nitride , carbon nitride , nanotechnology , chemistry , chromatography , polymer , organic chemistry , composite material , catalysis , photocatalysis , biochemistry , engineering
Membranes assembled from two‐dimensional (2‐D) layered materials have shown potential use in water purification. Recently, a 2‐D graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets membrane exhibits considerable separation performance in water purification. In this study, to further improve this water separation performance, polyacrylic acid (PAA) was introduced to tune the nanochannels formed between the g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets. The fabricated g‐C 3 N 4 ‐PAA hybrid membranes possessed higher water flux without sacrificing much rejection rate compared with that of the g‐C 3 N 4 membrane; however, noticeable fouling was observed upon addition of the PAA into the membrane composite structure. In addition, the effect of PAA on the morphology, surface hydrophilicity, separation performance, and antifouling properties of the g‐C 3 N 4 membrane were examined in detail. Overall, incorporating PAA into the g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets membrane was an effective and convenient method to improve the water separation performance, which could promote the application of the 2‐D g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets membrane in practical ultrafiltration processes. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 2181–2188, 2018