Abstract
The intentional or unintentional release of wastewater containing dyes from the industries into the environment is a major challenge for municipalities, water practitioners and affected stakeholders. Conventional methods that are used somehow result in secondary pollution. Consequently, development of new or other treatment alternatives, such as membrane technology are required for the removal of these dyes from wastewater. Membrane technology has developed as a proficient method over conventional systems due to its high rejection capacity, ease in synthesis and operation, and cost effectiveness for the removal of dyes from wastewater. Polymeric membranes, such as those made of polyethersulfone (PES), are commonly used because of their higher flexibility, simple pore forming mechanism using phase inversion method, cost effective and require smaller space for synthesis as well as application in comparison to inorganic membranes. However, these polymeric membranes are susceptible to fouling because they are generally hydrophobic in nature. Fouling is a deposition of various colloidal particles, macromolecules (polysaccharides, proteins) and salts on membrane surface and within pores thus hinders membrane performance, reduces flux and results in high cost. As a result, modification of polymeric membranes is necessary to mitigate membrane fouling. Polymeric membranes are modified with nanomaterials owing to their altering ability; nanomaterials such as metal-organic framework (MOFs), graphene oxide (GO) and variety of metallic nanoparticles (e.g. AgNPs, CuNPs) results in polymeric nanocomposite membranes with high antifouling characteristics. Blending nanomaterials i.e. GO, MOFs and nanoparticles with polymeric membranes impart high selectivity, high permeability, high hydrophilicity, and antifouling properties to polymeric membranes...
Ph.D. (Chemistry)