Multi-dimensional parametric study for enhancing Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis membrane performance suited for desalination of low salinity feeds.

Reverse osmosis (RO) effectively provides clean drinking water. Different RO membrane types are tailored to treat saline water feeds with varying characteristics. In the context of low brackish water feeds, the objective is to remove only a minimal excess of salinity through the membrane.

3D Natural Mesoporous Biosilica-Embedded Polysulfone Made Ultrafiltration Membranes for Application in Separation Technology.

Diatoms are the most abundant photosynthetic microalgae found in all aquatic habitats. In the extant study, the spent biomass (after lipid extraction) of the centric marine diatom CSIRCSMCRI 001 was subjected to acid digestion for the extraction of micro composite inorganic biosilica. Then, the resulting three-dimensional mesoporous biosilica material (diatomite) was used as a filler in polysulfone (PSF) membrane preparation by phase inversion.

An Ultrahydrophobic Fluorous Metal-Organic Framework Derived Recyclable Composite as a Promising Platform to Tackle Marine Oil Spills.

Derived from a strategically chosen hexafluorinated dicarboxylate linker aimed at the designed synthesis of a superhydrophobic metal-organic framework (MOF), the fluorine-rich nanospace of a water-stable MOF (UHMOF-100) exhibits excellent water-repellent features. It registered the highest water contact angle (≈176°) in the MOF domain, marking the first example of an ultrahydrophobic MOF. Various experimental and theoretical studies reinforce its distinctive water-repellent characteristics, and the conjugation of superoleophilicity and unparalleled hydrophobicity of a MOF material has been coherently exploited to achieve real-time oil/water separation in recyclable membrane form, with significant absorption capacity performance.

Influence of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles to the conformation of hydrophilic polymer chain in dilute solution system.

We studied interaction of hydrophilic polymer chain and hydrophilic silica nanoparticles in a dilute aqueous system using an idealized model system comprised of a well characterized polyvinyl alcohol of 100 Å R(g) and hard spherical LUDOX® silica of 80 Å radii. Interaction among the polymer chains forming polymer clusters with collective polymer structure factor induced by the polymer-mediated potentials of mean force between the nanoparticles, was observed. However, Gaussian nature of individual polymer chain remains unaltered.

SANS study to probe nanoparticle dispersion in nanocomposite membranes of aromatic polyamide and functionalized silica nanoparticles.

Silica nanoparticles produced from organically functionalized silicon alkoxide precursors were incorporated into polyamide film to produce a silica-polyamide nanocomposite membrane with enhanced properties. The dispersion of the silica nanoparticles in the nanocomposite membrane was characterized by performing small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements on dilute reactant systems and dilute solution suspensions of the final product. Clear scattering of monodisperse spherical particles of 10-18 A R(g) were observed from dilute solutions of the initial reactant system.

Characterization of physical structure of silica nanoparticles encapsulated in polymeric structure of polyamide films.

Polyamide nanocomposite films were prepared from nanometer sized silica particles and trimesoyl chloride-m-phenylene diamine based polyamides. The type of silica nanoparticles used is commercial LUDOX HS-40 and the particle size characterized by the radius of gyration (R(g)) is about 66 A. The immediately prepared films were easily broken into particles to form colloidal-like dilute suspension of the silica-polyamide composite particles in D(2)O-H(2)O solutions for SANS measurements, that in this dilute system SANS data the complication of scattering data from the interacting particles is minimized.

High surface area nanoporous amorphous silica prepared by dodecanol assisted silica formate sol-gel approach.

A simple polycondensation of monocarboxylic acids with silicon alkoxides led to transparent silica gels mainly comprised of silicate species of closed structures. This 'sol-gel formic acid' approach was modified by trapping an organic template (dodecanol) inside the silicate network during the polymerization process. Using this templating approach, porous silica of extremely high surface area, was produced in contrast to non-porous silica obtained by non-templating approach.