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Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications

Thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) desalination membranes were prepared based on a polyethersulfone (PES) support, where the polyamide (PA) layer was embedded with amine-functionalized graphene oxide (GO). The effect of adding various concentrations of functionalized and un-functionalized GO on the desal...

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Main Author: Bahaeldin, Ahmed
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Bahaeldin, Ahmed
author_browse Bahaeldin, Ahmed
author_facet Bahaeldin, Ahmed
author_sort Bahaeldin, Ahmed
collection Thesis
description Thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) desalination membranes were prepared based on a polyethersulfone (PES) support, where the polyamide (PA) layer was embedded with amine-functionalized graphene oxide (GO). The effect of adding various concentrations of functionalized and un-functionalized GO on the desalination performance, hydrophilicity, and morphology of the membranes was additionally assessed throughout this work. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements were used to assess the morphology of the membranes in combination with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Contact angle measurements were used to gauge the hydrophilicity of the synthesized membranes. The membrane with the best desalination performance contained 1x10-3 wt/vol% of functionalized GO in the PA layer-achieving a 42% improvement in the water flux and a 5.23% compromise in the salt rejection of Na2SO4 compared to a blank thin-film composite (TFC) membrane. The combined use of a PES support with amine-functionalized GO embedded in the PA layer is a novel feature of this work. The first stage entailed the optimization of the PES support layer in order to yield a high pure water permeability (PWP). The support formulation with the highest PWP contained 15 wt% PES and 2.5 wt% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) pore-forming additive. Following this, multiple trials were undergone to produce a PA layer atop the support with the goal of achieving a high salt rejection, before embedding the un-functionalized GO nanomaterials. The PA layer with the highest salt rejection was synthesized using a vacuum filtration technique combined with a sealed mold technique and gave a 97.5% salt rejection of an Na2SO4 solution. Following this step, various concentrations of plain GO were added to the PA layer to find the optimal concentration to incorporate the functionalized GO. Afterwards, the GO was modified with an amine moiety using a carboxyl-activating agent. The success of the functionalization reaction was assessed using FT-IR, Raman, and TEM measurements. Finally, the functionalized GO was added to the PA layer to yield a novel membrane formulation (fTFN).
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3020
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:53.165Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3020 Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications Bahaeldin, Ahmed Thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) desalination membranes were prepared based on a polyethersulfone (PES) support, where the polyamide (PA) layer was embedded with amine-functionalized graphene oxide (GO). The effect of adding various concentrations of functionalized and un-functionalized GO on the desalination performance, hydrophilicity, and morphology of the membranes was additionally assessed throughout this work. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements were used to assess the morphology of the membranes in combination with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Contact angle measurements were used to gauge the hydrophilicity of the synthesized membranes. The membrane with the best desalination performance contained 1x10-3 wt/vol% of functionalized GO in the PA layer-achieving a 42% improvement in the water flux and a 5.23% compromise in the salt rejection of Na2SO4 compared to a blank thin-film composite (TFC) membrane. The combined use of a PES support with amine-functionalized GO embedded in the PA layer is a novel feature of this work. The first stage entailed the optimization of the PES support layer in order to yield a high pure water permeability (PWP). The support formulation with the highest PWP contained 15 wt% PES and 2.5 wt% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) pore-forming additive. Following this, multiple trials were undergone to produce a PA layer atop the support with the goal of achieving a high salt rejection, before embedding the un-functionalized GO nanomaterials. The PA layer with the highest salt rejection was synthesized using a vacuum filtration technique combined with a sealed mold technique and gave a 97.5% salt rejection of an Na2SO4 solution. Following this step, various concentrations of plain GO were added to the PA layer to find the optimal concentration to incorporate the functionalized GO. Afterwards, the GO was modified with an amine moiety using a carboxyl-activating agent. The success of the functionalization reaction was assessed using FT-IR, Raman, and TEM measurements. Finally, the functionalized GO was added to the PA layer to yield a novel membrane formulation (fTFN). 2023-01-31T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1988 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3020/viewcontent/ahmed_bahaeldin_thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Desalination membrane ultrafiltration thin-film nanocomposite graphene oxide polyethersulfone amine functionalization Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Polymer and Organic Materials Polymer Chemistry
spellingShingle Desalination
membrane
ultrafiltration
thin-film nanocomposite
graphene oxide
polyethersulfone
amine functionalization
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Polymer and Organic Materials
Polymer Chemistry
Bahaeldin, Ahmed
Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title_full Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title_fullStr Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title_full_unstemmed Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title_short Polyethersulfone Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membrane Embedded with Amine-Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Desalination Applications
title_sort polyethersulfone thin film nanocomposite membrane embedded with amine functionalized graphene oxide for desalination applications
topic Desalination
membrane
ultrafiltration
thin-film nanocomposite
graphene oxide
polyethersulfone
amine functionalization
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Polymer and Organic Materials
Polymer Chemistry
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1988
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3020/viewcontent/ahmed_bahaeldin_thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT bahaeldinahmed polyethersulfonethinfilmnanocompositemembraneembeddedwithaminefunctionalizedgrapheneoxidefordesalinationapplications