Evaluation of the formation and antifouling properties of a novel adsorptive homogeneous mixed matrix membrane with in situ generated Zr-based nanoparticles

Abstract

In situ generation is a powerful technique used to prepare homogenous adsorptive mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) containing functional nanoparticles, although the mechanism of formation of the membranes is not yet clear and there have been few published evaluations of membrane fouling. We therefore used this method to prepare a novel homogeneous adsorptive Zr-based nanoparticle–polyethersulfone (PES) MMM and systematically studied the mechanism of membrane formation at the atomic level. As the amount of ZrOCl₂·8H₂O in the casting solution increased, the phase inversion kinetics changed from instantaneous demixing due to the thermodynamic enhancement effect to a delayed demixing process caused by viscosity hindrance. The in situ generation of nanoparticles in these MMMs can be divided into three stages: the migration stage, the exfoliation stage and the stable stage. Our findings provide a fundamental understanding of the interface chemistry in the development of in situ generated MMMs. M2 showed a higher adsorption of As(V) than the pure PES membrane and could be reused after regeneration. The removal of As(V) from the M2 filtration system mainly took place via adsorption rather than size exclusion, as confirmed by EDS and experimental data. The presence of humic acid slightly inhibited the removal of As(V) during the filtration process as a result of the barrier effect caused by the formation of a filter cake via humic acid fouling. The filtration of a bovine serum albumin solution showed that the MMM with in situ generated nanoparticles had better antifouling properties than the PES membrane alone in multiple applications as a result of the enhanced hydrophilic surface.