Graft Polymerization of Stearyl Methacrylate on PET Track-Etched Membranes for Oil–Water Separation

Abstract

In this article, results of PET track-etched membranes (PET TeMs) hydrophobized by photo-induced graft polymerization of stearyl methacrylate (SM) inside the pores were presented. The effects of monomer concentration, time of irradiation and the nature of the solvent on the degree of grafting and membrane morphology were investigated. The PET TeMs with pore diameters ranging from 350 nm (pore density of 1 × 108 pore/cm2) to 3.05 µm (pore density of 1 × 106 pore/cm2) were hydrophobized and tested for oil–water separation by using hexadecane–water and chloroform–water emulsions. Studies have shown high separation performance for membranes (up to 1100 mL/m2·s) with large pore diameters while achieving a high degree of purification.

Preparation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Track-Etched Membranes for the Separation of Water-Oil Emulsions

“…The separation of water-oil mixtures with modified PET TeMs was carried out by filtration according to the scheme presented in our previous works [38,39].…”

“…Previously, we have shown that PET TeMs modified by photoinitiated graft polymerization of stearyl methacrylate [38], as well as by soaking in a trichlorooctylsilane solution [39], performed well in the separation of oil-water emulsion. In this paper, we studied a simpler and more energy efficient method of modifying PET TeMs to obtain a pH-responsive surface by soaking in a (poly)allylamine (PAAm) solution for use in the separation of chloroform/water (pH=2) and hexadecane/water (pH=2) systems in various ratios.…”

Preparation and application of stimuli-responsive PET TeMs: RAFT graft block copolymerisation of styrene and acrylic acid for the separation of water–oil emulsions

“…Although various methods such as oatation, 4 coagulation, 5 and extraction 6 have been used for this purpose, there is currently a need for the development of advanced separation methods, which can be achieved via new types of membranes 7,8 and modication methods. [9][10][11] One promising avenue is the application of membrane technology in the separation of emulsions, 2,[12][13][14] which is also reected in our previous works 3,15,16 using modied TeMs based on PET for the separation of water-oil emulsions. TeMs, due to a number of advantages (narrow pore size distribution and precise control of the number of pores per cm 2 ), are gaining interest in separation processes as model membranes.…”

“…There are known works using PET material as a matrix for the development of membranes, fabrics, and nanobers for the separation of water-oil emulsions, [19][20][21][22] but there are only several works using PET TeMs for this purpose. 3,15,16 In this context and considering the successful application of PET TeMs in the separation of water-oil emulsions, we continued our work on the fabrication of innovative stimuli-responsive membranes by UV-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymerization. 3,15,16,23 RAFT polymerization allows to obtain rstly block copolymers and secondly prevents uncontrolled chain growth, i.e., allows to synthesize polymers with a well-dened and narrow distribution of molecular weights, also called low polydispersity index.…”

Environmentally friendly loading of palladium nanoparticles on nanoporous PET track-etched membranes grafted by poly(1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) via RAFT polymerization for the photocatalytic degradation of metronidazole

“…13 Membranes with controllable high roughness, such as nanoporous track-etched membranes (TeMs), are created by bombardment with accelerated heavy ions and subsequent chemical etching, resulting in a nanoporous structure with high aspect ratios and a rough surface. The controllable high roughness of TeMs makes them ideal for creating unclogged and effective nanochannels, which can be utilized for various applications, such as water purication, [14][15][16][17][18][19] drug delivery, 20 sensing [21][22][23] and DNA sequencing, 24 and can work locally at high rates and with high selectivity.…”