TY - JOUR
T1 - Polyvinylidene fluoride membrane formation using carbon dioxide as a non-solvent additive for nuclear wastewater decontamination
AU - Essalhi, Mohamed
AU - Ismail, Norafiqah
AU - Tesfalidet, Solomon
AU - Pan, Jun
AU - Wang, Qian
AU - Cui, Zhoaliang
AU - García-Payo, M. C.
AU - Khayet, Mohamed
AU - Mikkola, Jyri Pekka
AU - Sarmad, Shokat
AU - Bouyer, Denis
AU - Zhao, Yun
AU - Li, Baohua
AU - André Ohlin, C.
AU - Tavajohi, Naser
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/10/15
Y1 - 2022/10/15
N2 - Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by phase inversion in the most commonly used solvents for membrane manufacture, with CO2 as a non-solvent additive. The effects of changing the polymer concentration (10, 12.5 and 15% by weight), the type of solvent (NMP, DMAc and DMF) and the coagulation bath with three levels of CO2 concentration on the phase inversion process, as well as the phase diagram, morphology and transport properties of the membranes were studied. The best performing membranes were used to desalinate salt aqueous solutions and decontaminated simulated nuclear wastewater by membrane distillation using two configurations (DCMD and AGMD). All selected membranes showed high rejection with acceptable permeate fluxes reaching an infinite decontamination factor. The proposed approach of this novel idea of using CO2 dissolved in water as a coagulation medium in the field of membranes avoids the increase of the harmful effect on the environment caused by the addition of a harsh non-solvent to the coagulation bath. It constitutes a beneficial use of carbon dioxide that reduces the negative environmental impact of membrane manufacturing and represents a decisive step towards its sustainability. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential benefits of using these membranes in DM for desalination and treatment of simulated nuclear wastewater.
AB - Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by phase inversion in the most commonly used solvents for membrane manufacture, with CO2 as a non-solvent additive. The effects of changing the polymer concentration (10, 12.5 and 15% by weight), the type of solvent (NMP, DMAc and DMF) and the coagulation bath with three levels of CO2 concentration on the phase inversion process, as well as the phase diagram, morphology and transport properties of the membranes were studied. The best performing membranes were used to desalinate salt aqueous solutions and decontaminated simulated nuclear wastewater by membrane distillation using two configurations (DCMD and AGMD). All selected membranes showed high rejection with acceptable permeate fluxes reaching an infinite decontamination factor. The proposed approach of this novel idea of using CO2 dissolved in water as a coagulation medium in the field of membranes avoids the increase of the harmful effect on the environment caused by the addition of a harsh non-solvent to the coagulation bath. It constitutes a beneficial use of carbon dioxide that reduces the negative environmental impact of membrane manufacturing and represents a decisive step towards its sustainability. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential benefits of using these membranes in DM for desalination and treatment of simulated nuclear wastewater.
KW - Carbonated coagulation bath
KW - Desalination
KW - Membrane distillation
KW - Nuclides decontamination
KW - Simulated nuclear wastewater treatment
KW - Ternary phase diagram
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132694835&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137300
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137300
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132694835
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 446
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
M1 - 137300
ER -