Effect of TiO₂ nanoparticles on structure and properties of high density polyethylene membranes prepared by thermally induced phase separation method

Abstract

Polyethylene/TiO 2 membranes were fabricated via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. A set of characterization tests including FE-SEM, EDX, XRD, DSC, TGA, DMA, mechanical test and relative pure water flux for characterization of membranes were carried out to investigate the effect of TiO 2 nanoparticles on membrane properties. The results of EDX, XRD and TGA analyses confirmed the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The results of DSC analysis revealed that the melting point as well as the crystallinity of the membranes increased slightly with increasing TiO 2 content. However, the glass transition temperature of the membranes was not affected by the presence of particles. Addition of nanoparticles also increased storage modulus, loss modulus and tensile strength at break of the membranes due to the stiffness improvement effect of inorganic TiO 2 . Finally, it was observed that incorporation of the nanoparticles improved pure water flux of the membranes.

Study on the fouling behavior of silica nanocomposite modified polypropylene membrane in purification of collagen protein

“…Therefore, the composite membranes exhibit weaker ductile property and higher rigidity. The similar results were obtained in our previous work, in which inorganic nanoparticle was added to the dope solutions (Jafarzadeh et al, 2015b).…”

High‐density polyethylene membranes embedded with carboxylated and polyethylene glycol‐grafted nanodiamond to be used in membrane bioreactors

“…Increasing in PWF of membranes by adding ND‐PEG nanoparticles may be attributed to the nucleation effect of nanoparticles. The presence of nanoparticles during the phase separation process would increase the nucleation rate and crystal growth and consequently, results in regular structure . In addition, improvement in the hydrophilicity of membrane due to the presence of nanoparticles can also ease water absorption by membrane and improves the PWF.…”

“…Being a low‐cost material, polyethylene (PE) membrane is used in various membrane separation processes like membrane distillation, blood oxygenators, and biosensors owing to its good mechanical strength, high chemical resistance, and excellent thermal stability . However, the application of PE membranes in water and wastewater treatment is restricted due to the non‐wettability and weak biocompatibility .…”

“…For example, PE/ZnO membranes were fabricated by Jafarzadeh et al, and the result revealed that surface hydrophilicity and pure water flux of membranes were enhanced by increasing ZnO. Also, PE/TiO 2 membranes were fabricated by Jafarzadeh et al, and it was shown that the crystallinity of the membranes as well as mechanical strength and water flux were increased with increment of TiO 2 content. Amini et al prepared PE/silica nanocomposite membranes, and the results revealed that certain amount of SiO 2 nanoparticles increased the porosity, mechanical strength, water flux, and fouling behavior of resultant membranes.…”

Chelated palladium nanoparticles on the surface of plasma‐treated polyethersulfone membrane for an efficient catalytic reduction of p‐nitrophenol

“…Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) will play a focal role in the future of nanotechnology owing to their unexpected and unusual properties . Metal nanoparticles represent different properties from bulk metals and possess much more applications arising from their individual physical and chemical properties . Their high surface area to bulk ratio provides a special situation to make use of precious metals, such as platinum group metals, as catalysts in the nanoparticle form .…”