Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances
Surfactant-templated 5 mol% Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-doped silica membranes nanofiltration membranes were synthesized via the sol-gel method, and afterward, were optimized, and tested with respect to the permeability and rejection rate. The disordered silica network was st...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/10/1368 |
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| author | Xianzheng Ma Katarzyna Janowska Vittorio Boffa Debora Fabbri Giuliana Magnacca Paola Calza Yuanzheng Yue |
| author_facet | Xianzheng Ma Katarzyna Janowska Vittorio Boffa Debora Fabbri Giuliana Magnacca Paola Calza Yuanzheng Yue |
| author_sort | Xianzheng Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Surfactant-templated 5 mol% Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-doped silica membranes nanofiltration membranes were synthesized via the sol-gel method, and afterward, were optimized, and tested with respect to the permeability and rejection rate. The disordered silica network was stabilized by doping 5 mol% alumina. Tetraethyl orthosilicate and aluminum isopropoxide were used as the silica and alumina precursors, respectively. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used not only as a pore-forming agent, but also to control the reaction rate of the aluminum isopropoxide, thus obtaining highly homogeneous materials. The results about filtration of model solutions showed that the optimized membranes are featured by both a relatively high water permeability (1.1−2.3 L·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup> ·bar<sup>−1</sup>) and a high rejection for salts (74% for NaCl, and >95% for MgSO<sub>4</sub> and Na<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>) and organic pollutants (e.g., about 98% for caffeine). High rejection of divalent ions and organic molecules was also observed when a real wastewater effluent was filtered. The influence of the synthesis conditions on the membrane performance is discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:31:29Z |
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| id | doaj.art-86d6894c17284470a6e474699b3a2419 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:31:29Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-86d6894c17284470a6e474699b3a24192022-12-21T19:30:01ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912019-09-01910136810.3390/nano9101368nano9101368Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification PerformancesXianzheng Ma0Katarzyna Janowska1Vittorio Boffa2Debora Fabbri3Giuliana Magnacca4Paola Calza5Yuanzheng Yue6Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, DenmarkDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, DenmarkDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, DenmarkDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 5/7, 10125 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 5/7, 10125 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 5/7, 10125 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, DenmarkSurfactant-templated 5 mol% Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-doped silica membranes nanofiltration membranes were synthesized via the sol-gel method, and afterward, were optimized, and tested with respect to the permeability and rejection rate. The disordered silica network was stabilized by doping 5 mol% alumina. Tetraethyl orthosilicate and aluminum isopropoxide were used as the silica and alumina precursors, respectively. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used not only as a pore-forming agent, but also to control the reaction rate of the aluminum isopropoxide, thus obtaining highly homogeneous materials. The results about filtration of model solutions showed that the optimized membranes are featured by both a relatively high water permeability (1.1−2.3 L·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup> ·bar<sup>−1</sup>) and a high rejection for salts (74% for NaCl, and >95% for MgSO<sub>4</sub> and Na<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>) and organic pollutants (e.g., about 98% for caffeine). High rejection of divalent ions and organic molecules was also observed when a real wastewater effluent was filtered. The influence of the synthesis conditions on the membrane performance is discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/10/1368sol-gelwastewaterdepollutiondesalinationselectivity |
| spellingShingle | Xianzheng Ma Katarzyna Janowska Vittorio Boffa Debora Fabbri Giuliana Magnacca Paola Calza Yuanzheng Yue Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances Nanomaterials sol-gel wastewater depollution desalination selectivity |
| title | Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances |
| title_full | Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances |
| title_fullStr | Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances |
| title_short | Surfactant-Assisted Fabrication of Alumina-Doped Amorphous Silica Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Water Purification Performances |
| title_sort | surfactant assisted fabrication of alumina doped amorphous silica nanofiltration membranes with enhanced water purification performances |
| topic | sol-gel wastewater depollution desalination selectivity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/10/1368 |
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