Lyotropic Liquid Crystal-Based Membranes for Water Remediation: Fabrication, Characterization and Performance Evaluation.

In water remediation, biomimetic membranes are gaining much attention due to their selectivity, dynamic stability, nontoxicity, and biocompatibility. Lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) are self-organizing networks that can conform to an array of geometries with high pore densities. As such, LLCs are excellent membrane materials for water applications because they are water insoluble and are manipulated to conform to an array of morphologies that provide natural water channels that are readily tunable in size. They have the ability to create uniform pores, between the range of 1 and 5 nm, with large surface areas. Thus, this work focuses on the design, fabrication, and characterization of LLC-modified Janus-type membranes for forward osmosis applications. Physical characterization of the membranes was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the results show an open-pore radius and the presence of both finger- and sponge-like pores depending on membrane preparation. The contact angle assessment indicates that as the membranes are further modified with other polymers (e.g., PAN), higher hydrophilicity and surface energy are achieved. Moreover, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis showed a significant variation in the pore distribution between membranes. Functionalized membranes presented satisfactory water flux and superior salt rejection compared to nonfunctionalized membranes. SupPACMoDS membranes are 83% more efficient at preventing salt back flux than the nonmodified version. This is credited to the thickness and pore structure provided by the PAN support layer in the membrane.

Metalized Nanocellulose Composites as a Feasible Material for Membrane Supports: Design and Applications for Water Treatment.

Herein, we study the feasibility of using nanocellulose (NC)-based composites with silver and platinum nanoparticles as additive materials to fabricate the support layer of thin film composite (TFC) membranes for water purification applications. In brief, the NC surface was chemically modified and then was decorated with silver and platinum nanoparticles, respectively, by chemical reduction. These metalized nanocellulose composites (MNC) were characterized by several techniques including: FTIR, XPS, TGA, XRD, and XANES to probe their integrity. Thereafter, we fabricated the MNC-TFC membranes and the support layer was modified to improve the membrane properties. The membranes were thoroughly characterized, and the performance was evaluated in forward osmosis (FO) mode with various feed solutions: nanopure water, urea, and wastewater samples. The fabricated membranes exhibited finger-like pore morphologies and varying pore sizes. Interestingly, higher water fluxes and solute rejection was obtained with the MNC-TFC membranes with wastewater samples. The overall approach of this work provides an effort to fabricated membranes with high water flux and enhanced selectivity.