Electrospun Nylon 6,6/ZIF-8 Nanofiber Membrane for Produced Water Filtration

Abstract

This study develops electrospun nylon 6,6 nanofiber membrane (NFM), incorporating zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as the additive for produced water (PW) filtration. Electrospun NFM is suitable to be used as a filter, especially for water treatment, since it has a huge surface area to volume ratio, high porosity, and great permeability compared to the conventional membranes. These properties also enhance its competitiveness to be used as reverse osmosis pre-treatment, as the final stage of PW treatment water reuse purpose. However, the fouling issue and low mechanical strength of NFM reduces hydraulic performance over time. Therefore, this study employs ZIF-8 as an additive to improve nylon 6,6 NFM properties to reduce fouling and increase membrane tensile strength. Results show that the optimum loading of ZIF-8 was at 0.2%. This loading gives the highest oil rejection (89%), highest steady-state pure water permeability (1967 L/(m2·h·bar)), 2× higher than untreated nylon 6,6 NFM with tensile strength 5× greater (3743 MPa), and a steady-state permeability of 1667 L/(m2·h·bar) for filtration of real produced water.

Preparation of 2D ZIF-L and Its Antibacterial and Antifouling Properties

“…The antifouling material and antibacterial properties [ 28 , 29 ] based on ZIF-8 or ZIF-8 derived nanoparticles have been studied by a few scientists. Halim [ 30 ] has developed nylon 6,6 nanofiber membrane, incorporating zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as the additive for water filtration and give more than 80% rejection of oil. Zhang [ 31 ] has reported that the positively-charged ZIF-L nano-daggers could impose a strong electrostatic interaction selectively to more negatively-charged microbial cell membranes.…”

One-Pot Polymerization of Dopamine as an Additive to Enhance Permeability and Antifouling Properties of Polyethersulfone Membrane

“…Foulant adsorption is a consequential issue to the membrane as it leads to a decrease in water flux. Moreover, excessive use chemicals associated with membrane cleaning shortens the membrane life, which severely limits the development and practical application of membrane-based processes [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Fabrication and characterization of high flux poly(vinylidene fluoride) electrospun nanofibrous membrane using amphiphilic polyethylene‐block‐poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer

“…In particular, polymer nanofibers have been widely used in a broad range of applications in the fields of protective clothing, nanocomposites, filtration, catalysis, artificial organ components, tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound dressing, vascular grafts, and medical textile materials 9,10 . In the last decade, there have been strong research activities in exploring the benefits of electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) in separation technology with new and exciting applications being revealed and realized 11–25 . This is because ENMs can overcome the flux limitations of conventional polymeric and ceramic membranes.…”

“…9,10 In the last decade, there have been strong research activities in exploring the benefits of electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) in separation technology with new and exciting applications being revealed and realized. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] This is because ENMs can overcome the flux limitations of conventional polymeric and ceramic membranes. When compared to the latter membranes, ENMs generally possess higher porosity (80%-95%), lower base weight, larger effective surface area and continuously interconnected pores.…”