Azo-Dye-Functionalized Polycarbonate Membranes for Textile Dye and Nitrate Ion Removal.

Challenges exist in the wastewater treatment of dyes produced by the world's growing textiles industry. Common problems facing traditional wastewater treatments include low retention values and breaking the chemical bonds of some dye molecules, which in some cases can release byproducts that can be more harmful than the original dye. This research illustrates that track-etched polycarbonate filtration membranes with 100-nanometer diameter holes can be functionalized with azo dye direct red 80 at 1000 µM, creating a filter that can then be used to remove the entire negatively charged azo dye molecule for a 50 µM solution of the same dye, with a rejection value of 96.