Development of copper-aluminum layered double hydroxide in thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane for water purification process

• Main Authors: Tajuddin, Muhammad Hanis (Author), Yusof, Norhaniza (Author), Wan Azelee, Ihsan (Author), Wan Salleh, Wan Norharyati (Author), Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi (Author), Jaafar, Juhana (Author), Aziz, Farhana (Author), Nagai, Kazukiyo (Author), Razali, Nor Faizah (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A., 2019-02.
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 This study aims to fabricate a thin film composite (TFC) membrane, modified with copper-aluminium layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanofillers via interfacial polymerization technique for nanofiltration (NF) processes. It was found that Cu-Al LDH nanofillers possessed layered structured materials with typical hexagonal plate-like shape and positive surface charge. The study revealed that TFN membrane exhibits a relatively smooth surface and a less nodular structure compared to pristine TFC membrane. The contact angle of TFN progressively decreased from 54.1° to 37.25°, indicating enhancement in surface hydrophilicity. Moreover, the incorporation of LDH nanofillers resulted in a less negative membrane as compared to the pristine TFC membrane. The best NF performance was achieved by TFN2 membrane with 0.1° of Cu-Al LDH loading and a water flux of 7.01 Lm-2h-1.bar. The addition of Cu-Al LDH resulted in excellent single salt rejections of Na2SO4 (96.8%), MgCl2 (95.6%), MgSO4 (95.4%), and NaCl (60.8%). The improvement in anti-fouling properties of resultant TFN membranes can be observed from the increments of pure water flux recovery and normalized water flux by 14% and 25% respectively. The findings indicated that Cu-Al LDH is a promising material in tailoring membrane surface properties and fouling resistance. The modification of the LDH-filled TFN membrane shows another alternative to fabricating a high-performance composite membrane, especially for water softening and partial desalination process.