The Improved Oil Removal Using Polysulfone Membranes Containing Al2O3 Nanoparticles

Year 2017, Özel Sayı 2, 63 - 68, 23.11.2017

S Saki Niğmet Uzal , N Ateş

Abstract

Oil-intensive industries produce environmentally problematic wastewaters
and their treatment is more difficult because of their high stability in
aqueous solutions. Although conventional separation methods are used for the
removal of oily compounds, these processes cannot satisfy environmental
regulations. Therefore membrane separation processes such as microfiltration
(MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) have gained attention to separate micron sized
oily compounds. Many researchers have studied to increase the oil removal
performance of membrane filtration by incorporating nanoparticles to the
membrane matrix. In this study, the flat-sheet PSF/PEI/Al₂O₃
nanocomposite membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method for oil
removal. The oil removal performances of the membranes were evaluated with
1,800 mg/L synthetic wastewater. 20 nm Al₂O₃ nanoparticles
was added to the membrane matrix with three different weight percentages of 0.2
wt%, 1 wt% and 5 wt%. The effect of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles on
the structural properties and filtration performance of the membranes were
investigated. Prepared membranes were characterized in terms of SEM, contact
angle, water flux, porosity, ATR-FTIR, porosity and tensile strength. The
highest oil removal efficiency was obtained by 15 wt% PSF, 1 wt% PEI and 0.2% wt
Al₂O₃ nanoparticles blended nanocomposite membrane with
an oil rejection of 99 %.

Keywords

oil removal, polysulfone membranes, Al2O3 nanoparticles

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