Issue 19, 2015

Synthesis of mesoporous carbon–silica nanocomposite water-treatment membranes using a triconstituent co-assembly method

Abstract

A direct synthesis method is introduced to prepare mesoporous carbon–silica nanocomposite (CSN) membranes for water-treatment applications. Unlike the intricate and expensive nanocasting method, this triconstituent co-assembly method is a one-pot synthesis method using Pluronic F127 as the templating agent with a hybrid organic–inorganic matrix formed by tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), resorcinol and formaldehyde. The silica content is varied in the polymer solution to investigate the material properties, stability of the nanocomposite mesostructure and membrane performance in vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The CSN materials are carbonised under nitrogen at temperatures of 600–900 °C without any significant lattice shrinkage, demonstrating excellent stability. They possess a highly ordered porous structure with moderate BET surface area (430–550 m2 g−1) and narrow pore size distribution at around 5.5–7.6 nm. Based on the FTIR and NMR analyses, there is no covalent bond between the carbon and silica networks, but the carbon compound was found to affect the condensation degree of the silica. Raising the temperature from 700 to 900 °C leads to further condensation of the carbon network, which in turn releases hydroxyl or water groups that can attack adjacent siloxane bonds. The CSN membranes performed well in VMD with water permeation flux up to 12 L m−2 h−1 and salt rejection >99%. This work shows that a different strategy of modifying silica-based membrane can be successfully applied for the desalination of saline waters through VMD.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of mesoporous carbon–silica nanocomposite water-treatment membranes using a triconstituent co-assembly method

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Feb 2015
Accepted
07 Apr 2015
First published
07 Apr 2015

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 10480-10491

Synthesis of mesoporous carbon–silica nanocomposite water-treatment membranes using a triconstituent co-assembly method

Y. T. Chua, C. X. C. Lin, F. Kleitz and S. Smart, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 10480 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA01328C

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