This research is based on the deposition of ceramic membranes made from Algerian clays within tubular supports. The major objective is to compare the mechanical strength and water permeability of the developed supports. The membranes made from the same clays are then examined in terms of their application areas and efficacy in treating a local-cheese effluent. The study of these clays demonstrates that the tubular supports made from Aomar clay are more robust than those obtained from kaolin and bentonite. This was due to the higher calcination temperature, which was 1000°C for Aomar and kaolin clays and 800°C for bentonite. However, the tubular support based on kaolin has the maximum water permeability (1460.09 L/m2.h.bar). In addition, the permeability tests performed on the membranes deposited on these clays indicate that those of bentonite and Aomar clay are ultrafiltration membranes, whereas the membrane obtained from kaolin is a microfiltration membrane. We demonstrated that the three membranes show high efficiency for the clarification and retention of multiple-pollutant loads of a local-cheese effluent.

In this work, the development of polymeric inclusion membranes for elimination of toxic ions is reported. The effect of a local clay additive on the structure and performances of the membranes was studied. The membrane was made up of cellulose triacetate (CTA) and polysulfone (PSu), plasticized by dioctylphtalate (DOP) and modified by local clay and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) incorporated into the polymer as metal ions carrier. The transport of lead (II) and cadmium (II) ions through two kinds of polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) systems, with and without clay, was investigated. The membranes (polymers/plasticizer/carrier/clay) were synthesized using a new method and characterized by various techniques, including Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and contact angle determination. A study of Pb(II) and Cd(II) retention using the synthesized membranes was realized. Dialysis experiments of lead and cadmium ions transfer across the polymer inclusion membranes have proved their good performance.

Polymeric materials have been remarkably associated with our daily life. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic biopolymer systems have gained importance in the last few years, because of the environmental pollution of nonbiodegradable synthetic plastics. Recently, biopolymers with functional groups have been directly used for the fabrication of adsorptive membranes in order to avoid the undesirable morphology change of the membranes during the surface modifications. Compared with other modification technologies or a synthesis of totally new materials, biopolymer blending has several advantages like simplicity, reproducibility, and commercial feasibility. The valuable part of blending of biopolymers can be used for the preparation of new materials with improved physicochemical and mechanical properties. The objective of this work is the development of biomembranes based on a mixture of three biopolymers, that is, alginate (AL), chitosan (CS), and polylactic acid (PLA). Physical characterizations of the elaborated biopolymeric membranes are carried out by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and contact angle measurements. The SEM results show that the synthesized membranes exhibited homogeneous dense microstructures. The second objective of this paper is to evaluate the importance of these biopolymers in removing lead which is considered as toxic metal. In fact, all synthesized membranes are applied to the treatment of wastewater to eliminate heavy metals principally

Résumé Au cours de ce travail, nous avons étudié l’extraction liquide - liquide et le transport du plomb à travers des membranes polymériques en utilisant le chlorure de tricapryle ammonium (Aliquat 336) comme transporteur. L’extraction du plomb par Aliquat 336 nous a permis de mettre au point les conditions optimales d’extraction et de déterminer les rendements d’extraction. Les expériences d’extraction liquide - liquide ont montré qu’un maximum de rendement était obtenu après huit minutes d’agitation à une vitesse de 2 400 (rpm). Les pourcentages d’extraction obtenus varient entre 80 à 94 % et donc une très bonne élimination du plomb a été réalisée (la concentration initiale du plomb varie entre 2 10‑6 M et 30 10‑6 M). Nous avons préparé par la suite des membranes à base du polymère triacétate de cellulose (TAC) plastifiées par le tris-ethyl-hexyl-phosphate (TEHP) et modifiées par l’extractant Aliquat 336 utilisé comme transporteur. Les membranes élaborées ont été également caractérisées par spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier (FTIR). Les valeurs obtenues pour les épaisseurs (entre 10 et 20 µm) et les densités sont tout à fait comparables à celles des supports commerciaux utilisés pour la préparation des membranes liquides supportées. L’ajout du plastifiant a donné une très bonne hydrophobie des membranes élaborées. Les expériences du transfert du plomb à travers les nouvelles membranes ont montré que les flux augmentent considérablement avec la concentration du transporteur pour atteindre un maximum à partir de 10‑3 M. D’autres paramètres caractérisant le transport (concentration initiale du métal et le pH) ont été déterminés. Un bon rendement d’élimination du plomb a été obtenu dans la gamme de pH très acide (1 ≤ pH ≤ 2).