Deploying Nanoparticle-Doped Polymeric Membranes in Treating Water Contaminated with Ciprofloxacin

The antibiotic Ciprofloxacin HCl (CPH) is a representative example of pharmaceutical contaminants of emerging concern that are frequently released in wastewater effluents and can cause hazardous health effects. In this work, we investigated the potential of utilizing porous polymeric membranes incorporating metal nanoparticles for removing CPH from water. In this regard, polylactic acid/polyurethane membranes were impregnated in situ with single, binary, and tertiary systems of nanoparticles of cobalt, copper, and nickel, among others. Membranes loaded with cobalt exhibited the best performance among all the examined membranes. They yielded removal efficiencies above 80% at an initial CPH concentration range of 10–50 ppm and pH 6.5, thus exceeding those of the bare membranes by about 1.3 times under the same conditions. As confirmed by Brunauer, Emmet, and Teller (BET) analysis, the incorporation of cobalt nanoparticles into the mesoporous membranes increased their surface area and pore volume by 5 and 10 times, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that cobalt nanoparticles had no catalytic influence on the dissociation of the membrane polymeric chains. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and zeta potential measurements suggested that binding could possibly occur via physical interactions along with catalytic degradation.

Liquid Crystals Templating

Liquid crystal templating is a versatile technique to create novel organic and inorganic materials with nanoscale features. It exploits the self-assembled architectures of liquid crystal phases as scaffolds. This article focuses on some of the key developments in lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystals templating. The procedures that were employed to create templated structures and the applications of these novel materials in various fields including mesoporous membranes, organic electronics, the synthesis of nanostructured materials and photonics, are described.

SiC mesoporous membranes for sulfuric acid decomposition at high temperatures in the iodine–sulfur process

In the present study, SiC particles derived mesoporous membrane was discovered and applied to membrane reactor for H2SO4 decomposition. The reaction equilibrium was moved the to the product side by membrane reactor with extraction at 600 °C.

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Mesoporous Membranes and Effect of Molecular Architecture on Thermo- and pH-Responsive Behavior of the grafted Block Copolymer brushes

In this study, we prepared ultrafiltration membranes with a decoupled responses of filtration property to temperature and pH. The membrane preparation method was developed based on our previous work. We utilized methanol-supercritical carbon dioxide (methanol-scCO₂) selective swelling method to introduce nanopores to block copolymers containing poly(diethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PMEO₂MA), poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and polystyrene (PS) blocks. Formation of the mesoporous barrier layer with PS being the mechanically stable part of the matrix was driven by selective swelling of the PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA domains. Due to the selective swelling of PMEO₂MA or PDMAEMA domains to introduce pores, the interior of the pores are covered with PMEO₂MA or PDMAEMA blocks after pore formation. The PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA polymer brushes are naturally attached on the pore walls and worked as functional gates. PMEO₂MA is a non-toxic, neutral thermo-responsive polymer with LCST at 26 ᴼC. PDMAEMA is a typical weak polyelectrolyte with pK_a value at 7.0-7.5 and also a thermo-responsive polymer revealed a LCST of 20-80 °C in aqueous solution. Therefore, these membranes were expected to have multi dimensions as function of the combination of temperature and pH. Moreover, to understand the detail of the temperature and pH depended conformation transitions of PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA brushes, those diblock copolymers were end-tethered on flat substrates and analyzed via neutron reflectivity (NR).

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Mesoporous Membranes and Effect of Molecular Architecture on Thermo- and pH-Responsive Behavior of the grafted Block Copolymer brushes

In this study, we prepared ultrafiltration membranes with a decoupled responses of filtration property to temperature and pH. The membrane preparation method was developed based on our previous work. We utilized methanol-supercritical carbon dioxide (methanol-scCO₂) selective swelling method to introduce nanopores to block copolymers containing poly(diethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PMEO₂MA), poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and polystyrene (PS) blocks. Formation of the mesoporous barrier layer with PS being the mechanically stable part of the matrix was driven by selective swelling of the PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA domains. Due to the selective swelling of PMEO₂MA or PDMAEMA domains to introduce pores, the interior of the pores are covered with PMEO₂MA or PDMAEMA blocks after pore formation. The PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA polymer brushes are naturally attached on the pore walls and worked as functional gates. PMEO₂MA is a non-toxic, neutral thermo-responsive polymer with LCST at 26 ᴼC. PDMAEMA is a typical weak polyelectrolyte with pK_a value at 7.0-7.5 and also a thermo-responsive polymer revealed a LCST of 20-80 °C in aqueous solution. Therefore, these membranes were expected to have multi dimensions as function of the combination of temperature and pH. Moreover, to understand the detail of the temperature and pH depended conformation transitions of PMEO₂MA-b-PDMAEMA brushes, those diblock copolymers were end-tethered on flat substrates and analyzed via neutron reflectivity (NR).