Improved Flux and Anti-Fouling Performance of an MXene-Blended Polyethersulfone Nanofiltration Membrane for Effective Treatment of Actual Textile Wastewater
摘要
Treatment of actual textile wastewater using mixed matrix nanofiltration membranes that are modified with MXene nanosheets is presented. For this purpose, MXene nanosheets were synthesized from the Titanium Aluminum Carbide (Ti3AlC2) MAX Phase using a mild etching method with an HCl/LiF etchant solution. These nanosheets were then incorporated into mixed matrix membranes made of polyethersulfone (PES) polymer using the phase inversion method. The performance of the modified membranes with varying doses of MXene nanosheets (0.1-1%) was evaluated by filtering actual textile wastewater. Key parameters measured included chemical oxygen demand (COD), color concentration, and conductivity. The results demonstrated that the modified membranes outperformed the unmodified PES membrane in all aspects. Specifically, the actual wastewater flux increased significantly from 10.8 L/m²·h for the unmodified membrane (M0) to 108.6 L/m²·h for the membrane modified with 1% (w/w) MXene nanosheets (M3). Additionally, the flux recovery ratio improved from 53.9 to 96.3%. The modified membrane demonstrated impressive removal efficiencies of color, COD, and conductivity parameters from actual wastewater, achieving removal rate of 98.2%, 84.6% and 56.4%, respectively. In comparison, the M0 membrane only achieved removal rates of 66.5%, 38.7%, and 18.6% for these parameters. The industrial application of the M3 membrane was assessed through a 36-hour long-term filtration process and five filtration-recovery cycles. The results indicated that the M3 membrane exhibits high efficiency in removing contaminants. This research provides valuable insights into modifying nanofiltration membranes with MXene nanosheets to improve their efficiency in treating actual textile industry wastewater and promote water reuse.