Abstract
The increasing contamination of freshwater systems with industrial and natural chemical compounds is one of the key environmental problems facing humanity worldwide. The contamination of freshwater systems by pesticides such as 2,4,6-trichlorphenol (TCP), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and endosulfan is a key environmental problem. These compounds are stable and bio-accumulate in the environment, thus making it impossible to be removed. Pesticides have been detected in South Africa water systems, these mainly emanate from agricultural activities.
Numerous researchers are currently looking for an effective method to resolve this issue. Conventional wastewater treatment methods are not always sufficient to remove pesticides from water because of their presence in low concentration whereby they raise a considerable toxicity concern. In this study, a membrane consisting of highly catalytic Fe-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles, hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (HPEI) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was used in the degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol.
A HPEI/MWCNTs/Fe-Cu nanocomposite was fabricated with a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane via the phase inversion method. HPEI/MWCNTs/Fe-Cu were immobilized and used as a nanofiller in the preparation of PES ultrafiltration membranes. The loading of the nanocomposite material were expressed in weight percentage and varied from 0.1 and 0.5 wt% HPEI/MWCNTs/Fe-Cu in the casting solution. In the study, the dechlorination of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) and their corresponding by-products were investigated. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS) was used to determine the degradation efficiency of 2,4,6-TCP and possible by-products after the process. The fabricated membranes with the different loadings of HPEI/MWCNTs/Fe-Cu/PES were characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and contact angle (CA) measurements. SEM micrographs showed finger like structure for all prepared membranes. Contact angle measurements revealed the improved hydrophilicity of HPEI/MWCNTs/Fe-Cu/PES compared bare PES. Fouling performance of the prepared membranes were monitored by bovine serum albumin...
M.Tech. (Chemistry)