The effect of amphiphilic block copolymer polyethylene glycol (PEG)-polypropylene glycol (PPG)-PEG concentration in the polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) casting solution and coagulation bath temperature (CBT) on the structure, separation, and antifouling performance of PPSU ultrafiltration membranes was studied for the first time. According to the phase diagram obtained, PPSU/PEG-PPG-PEG/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) systems are characterized by a narrow miscibility gap. It was found that 20 wt.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPervaporation is considered the most promising technology for dehydration of bioalcohols, attracting increasing attention as a renewable energy source. In this regard, the development of stable and effective membranes is required. In this study, highly efficient membranes for the enhanced pervaporation dehydration of ethanol were developed by modification of sodium alginate (SA) with a polyethylenimine (PEI) forming polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) and graphene oxide (GO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the solutions for the growing problem of water purification is photocatalytic degradation of the pollutants. Semiconductor nanoparticles are widely under study as a promising photocatalyst for this purpose. However, there is still lack of understanding of the relation between properties of nanoparticles, in their turn related with synthesis conditions, and photocatalytic efficiency, as well as of the other factors influencing the process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPresently, water pollution poses a serious threat to the environment; the removal of organic pollutants from resources, especially dyes, is very important. Nanofiltration (NF) is a promising membrane method to carry out this task. In the present work, advanced supported poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) membranes were developed for NF of anionic dyes using bulk (the introduction of graphene oxide (GO) into the polymer matrix) and surface (the deposition of polyelectrolyte (PEL) layers by layer-by-layer (LbL) technique) modifications.
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