A novel organic-inorganic matrix nanofiltration membrane for remediating copper with enhanced thermal stability and mechanical strength

Abstract

Abstract Membrane separation technology in the last forty years had an impressive growth, displacing conventional separation processes due to inherent advantages such as less capital investment, energy efficient and the devices were simple, compact and modular. In the current work, we aimed to synthesize a thin sheet nanofiltration membrane using chitosan, poly(vinyl) alcohol and montmorillonite clay for copper removal from aqueous solution. As prepared novel organic-inorganic hybrid membrane is characterized with analytical techniques such as Thermogravimetric analysis and Differential scanning calorimeter to evaluate its thermal stability. Tensile strength was measured to evaluate its stability over a wide range of temperature and pressure. The surface and cross-section morphology of membrane were studied using Scanning electron microscopy. Finally, the as prepared membrane was employed for filtration performance by adjusting parameters such as pH, metal ion concentration, pressure and membrane thickness. The remediation of copper with this innovative membrane was validated by comparing spectral images, such as EDAX and FT-IR taken both before and after filtration and a mechanism was proposed to explain the hooking of copper ions with the as prepared membrane.