Effect of hydraulic coefficient on membrane performance for rejection of emerging contaminants

Abstract

The efficient removal of Endocrine Disruptive Chemicals (EDCs) namely oxybenzone and atrazine using polysulfone (PSf) composite membranes is reported in this article. A negatively charged hydrophilic mixed matrix membrane was prepared by using Polyaniline modified halloysite nanotubes (PANi-HNT) and polysulfone. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) technique confirm the conversion of Halloysite nanotubes to Polyaniline modified halloysite nanotubes and their presence in membrane matrix. The microvoids observable in the SEM images depict the internal structure of the membrane. Further, increasing in the water uptake and decreasing in the contact angle with respect to increasing the concentration of Polyaniline modified halloysite nanotubes confirm the enhancement of the membrane hydrophilicity. This hydrophilicity increases for higher concentrations of PANi-HNT leads to a significant improvement of the water flux. The removal efficiency of prepared mixed matrix membranes was found to be 98% for oxybenzone and 50% for atrazine. The separation process was discussed in terms of adsorption coefficient, membrane charge and mean pore size. Considering the performances highlighted in this study, the proposed membranes appear usable for the removal of EDCs from contaminated solutions.