Faculty Publications
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Item New preparation methods for pore formation on polysulfone membranes(MDPI AG, 2021) Vainrot, N.; Li, M.; Isloor, A.M.; Eisen, M.S.This work described the preparation of membranes based on aromatic polysulfones through the phase-inversion method induced by a nonsolvent, generating the phase separation (NIPS) process. Three new techniques, including the nano iron acid etching method, base hydrolysis method of crosslinked polymers, and base hydrolysis method of a reactive component in a binary polymer blend, were developed for pore creation on membranes. The modified polymers and obtained membranes were carefully characterized. The uniform pores were successfully created by base hydrolysis of the crosslinked polymers and obtained at the size of the crosslinker. Moreover, homogeneous pores were created after base hydrolysis of the membranes prepared from binary polymer blends due to the internal changes in the polymer structure. The separation performance of membranes was tested with different inorganic salt solutions and compared with commercially known membranes. These new membranes exhibited high water flux (up to 3000 L/m?2·h?1 at 10 bar and at 25?C) and reasonable rejections for monovalent (21–44%) and multivalent ions (18–60%), depending on the different etching of the hydrolysis times. The comparison of these membranes with commercial ones confirmed their good separation performance and high potential application for water treatment applications. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item High performance 2D molybdenum MXene polyphenylsulfone membranes for boosting water flux and efficient removal of humic acid, antibiotic and dyes from wastewater(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Satishkumar, P.; Isloor, A.M.; Farnood, R.MXene, a leading two-dimensional material, is attracting scientists due to its rich polar surface termination and compatibility. Through the etching of an aluminum layer from Mo3AlC2, we have effectively produced molybdenum MXene Mo3C2Tx (where T stands for polar moieties like –OH and ?F) and used it to fabricate a new Mo3C2Tx embedded mixed matrix membrane. By the incorporation of highly hydrophilic Mo3C2Tx MXene into polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) membrane, its water flux tremendously increased to a peak value of 290 L m-2h?1 and is higher than 300 % compared to pristine polyphenylsulfone membrane without Mo3C2Tx MXene. Water contact angle study of Mo3C2Tx MXene embedded membranes showed improvement in hydrophilicity with an increase in its loading. Mo3C2Tx-PPSU membrane demonstrated appreciable antifouling nature and pollutant separation efficacy. The optimal membrane revealed 98.68 %, 96.7 %, 84.72 %, and 80.2 % removal of toxic contaminants like humic acid, RB 5 dye, RO 16 dye, and tetracycline antibiotic, respectively. This study offers a novel Mo3C2Tx embedded polyphenylsulfone membrane for wastewater treatment that eliminates potentially harmful humic acid, antibiotics, and dyes. © 2025