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Hydrophobic ceramic membranes fabricated via fatty acid chloride modification for solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD)

Hydrophobic ceramic membranes fabricated via fatty acid chloride modification for solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD)
Hydrophobic ceramic membranes fabricated via fatty acid chloride modification for solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD)

Solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD) is a novel technology to effectively separate water from waste streams containing solvents with high boiling points, avoiding the high chemical costs and release of harmful gas in conventional treatments. Ceramic membranes are promising for this process as they are highly stable chemically but they require modification to tune the hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity. However, the widely used silanization for hydrophobic modification often involves expensive chemicals and may produce toxic substances. Here, we present a new hydrophobic modification method with the use of fatty acid chloride (FAC), as a greener and cheaper alternative to silanes. In the grafting reaction, the acyl chloride groups react with the –OH groups on the ceramic membranes to form strong ester bonds. We successfully grafted stearoyl chloride (SC) and palmitoyl chloride (PC) on the ceramic tubular membranes. With long carbon chains grafted, the modified membranes exhibited high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle >141° and a liquid entry pressure >3 bar. When tested in SR-MD with a feed solution containing 50 wt% dimethyl sulfoxide, the PC-modified membrane demonstrated a flux of 3.2 kg m−2 h−1, with rejection >98% and separation factor >110 at 60 °C, and a high flux of 4.5 kg m−2 h−1 with rejection >96% at 70 °C. The FAC-modified membranes allow a cost-effective treatment of challenging wastewater containing organic solvents through SR-MD.

Ceramic membranes, Fatty acid chloride, Hydrophobic modification, Solvent resistant membrane distillation
0376-7388
Zhang, Yujun
273e2bf8-36a2-4443-8e17-694ab9acb537
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Xu, Rong
b8ecfd39-2f53-48e3-b672-e268c43f7db4
Wang, Rong
fd4ca2d0-78f2-40c2-aad1-355e7f3f3022
Zhang, Yujun
273e2bf8-36a2-4443-8e17-694ab9acb537
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Xu, Rong
b8ecfd39-2f53-48e3-b672-e268c43f7db4
Wang, Rong
fd4ca2d0-78f2-40c2-aad1-355e7f3f3022

Zhang, Yujun, Chong, Jeng Yi, Xu, Rong and Wang, Rong (2022) Hydrophobic ceramic membranes fabricated via fatty acid chloride modification for solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD). Journal of Membrane Science, 658, [120715]. (doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2022.120715).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Solvent resistant membrane distillation (SR-MD) is a novel technology to effectively separate water from waste streams containing solvents with high boiling points, avoiding the high chemical costs and release of harmful gas in conventional treatments. Ceramic membranes are promising for this process as they are highly stable chemically but they require modification to tune the hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity. However, the widely used silanization for hydrophobic modification often involves expensive chemicals and may produce toxic substances. Here, we present a new hydrophobic modification method with the use of fatty acid chloride (FAC), as a greener and cheaper alternative to silanes. In the grafting reaction, the acyl chloride groups react with the –OH groups on the ceramic membranes to form strong ester bonds. We successfully grafted stearoyl chloride (SC) and palmitoyl chloride (PC) on the ceramic tubular membranes. With long carbon chains grafted, the modified membranes exhibited high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle >141° and a liquid entry pressure >3 bar. When tested in SR-MD with a feed solution containing 50 wt% dimethyl sulfoxide, the PC-modified membrane demonstrated a flux of 3.2 kg m−2 h−1, with rejection >98% and separation factor >110 at 60 °C, and a high flux of 4.5 kg m−2 h−1 with rejection >96% at 70 °C. The FAC-modified membranes allow a cost-effective treatment of challenging wastewater containing organic solvents through SR-MD.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 6 June 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 June 2022
Published date: 11 June 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge funding support from the Singapore Economic Development Board to the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University , Singapore.
Keywords: Ceramic membranes, Fatty acid chloride, Hydrophobic modification, Solvent resistant membrane distillation

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 486388
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486388
ISSN: 0376-7388
PURE UUID: e2c8c424-b53c-491e-b8ec-dd0e81b9ec23
ORCID for Jeng Yi Chong: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0593-6313

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Jan 2024 17:31
Last modified: 02 Aug 2024 02:04

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Contributors

Author: Yujun Zhang
Author: Jeng Yi Chong ORCID iD
Author: Rong Xu
Author: Rong Wang

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