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Developing PES membrane by modified Co 3 O 4 –OA nanoparticles for direct contact membrane distillation process
Author(s) -
Gholamzadeh Nika,
Peyravi Majid,
Jahanshahi Mohsen,
Hoseinpour Hamzeh,
Rad Ali Shokuhi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.2100
Subject(s) - membrane distillation , contact angle , membrane , phase inversion , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , scanning electron microscope , materials science , desalination , porosity , chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , biochemistry , engineering
Modified hydrophobic cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles were used to develop polyethersulfone (PES) nanocomposite membranes via phase inversion technique for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles were treated by oleic acid (OA) to decrease the surface energy and agglomeration. The effect of incorporating different concentrations of Co 3 O 4 –OA nanoparticles (0–4 wt%) into the PES dope solution was studied. The prepared membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle and porosity and pore size measurements. Due to the increase in pore size, the membrane performance improved, and the vapour flux increased upon the incorporation of 4 wt% of nanoparticles. The salt rejection was greater than 99.8% when a 3.5 g/L sodium chloride. As a result, the Co 3 O 4 –OA modified PES membrane could provide an opportunity for desalination by DCMD process with good perm selectivity. Copyright © 2017 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.