Enhancement separation selectivity of mineral ions and perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances by nanofiltration membrane through hydrogel-assisted interfacial polymerization

IF 11.4 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Water Research Pub Date : 2025-03-13 DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2025.123498

Xuelin Wang , Ratul Rehman , Kunpeng Zhang , Kaiming Fan , Airan Hu , Zhong Zhang , Yanling Liu , Shengji Xia , Daqiang Yin , Pan Li

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The presence of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water is a critical concern for water safety and public health. Nanofiltration (NF) membranes have emerged promising technology for the elimination of trace organic contaminants from drinking water, but many previous studies have sacrificed the retention of vital mineral ions in human body in pursuit of efficient removal of PFAS. In this study, hydrogel-assisted interfacial polymerization (IP) strategy was designed to enhance the selectivity of mineral ions over PFAS, optimized pore size and surface characteristics of polyamide layers were obtained by IP process assisted by hydrogel formed by chitosan and glutaraldehyde. This approach facilitated the fabrication of NF membranes with a thinner active layer, enlarged pore size, and a more negatively charged surface. The optimized modified membrane exhibited a remarkable improvement in water permeance (16 LMH/bar, over 200 % than the control membrane) and maintained high rejection rates (>90 %) for PFAS with molecular weights ranging from 214 to 514 Da, while significantly reducing the rejection of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions (<20 %). Density functional theory calculations revealed that all membranes exhibited reduced adsorption energies for PFAS. The treatment of natural surface water indicated the superior rejection selectivity of the modified membrane for mineral ions over natural organic matter, the average gap value of inorganic ions and natural organic matter in modified membranes was 4.6, while the average gap in commercial membranes was 1.6, improved by 2.6 times in selectivity compared to existing commercial membranes. This study offers valuable insights into the targeted enhancement of mineral ions/PFAS selectivity in NF membranes, thereby paving the way of more efficient and sustainable water treatment processes.

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来源期刊

Water Research 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

20.80

自引率

9.40%

发文量

1307

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Water Research, along with its open access companion journal Water Research X, serves as a platform for publishing original research papers covering various aspects of the science and technology related to the anthropogenic water cycle, water quality, and its management worldwide. The audience targeted by the journal comprises biologists, chemical engineers, chemists, civil engineers, environmental engineers, limnologists, and microbiologists. The scope of the journal include: •Treatment processes for water and wastewaters (municipal, agricultural, industrial, and on-site treatment), including resource recovery and residuals management; •Urban hydrology including sewer systems, stormwater management, and green infrastructure; •Drinking water treatment and distribution; •Potable and non-potable water reuse; •Sanitation, public health, and risk assessment; •Anaerobic digestion, solid and hazardous waste management, including source characterization and the effects and control of leachates and gaseous emissions; •Contaminants (chemical, microbial, anthropogenic particles such as nanoparticles or microplastics) and related water quality sensing, monitoring, fate, and assessment; •Anthropogenic impacts on inland, tidal, coastal and urban waters, focusing on surface and ground waters, and point and non-point sources of pollution; •Environmental restoration, linked to surface water, groundwater and groundwater remediation; •Analysis of the interfaces between sediments and water, and between water and atmosphere, focusing specifically on anthropogenic impacts; •Mathematical modelling, systems analysis, machine learning, and beneficial use of big data related to the anthropogenic water cycle; •Socio-economic, policy, and regulations studies.