Fabrication of 2D Vanadium MXene Polyphenylsulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane for Enhancing the Water Flux and for Effective Separation of Humic Acid and Dyes from Wastewater

Abstract

MXene, a new 2D transition metal carbide-based material, is gaining outstanding attention in recent days in the area of separation and purification. In this study, we have successfully synthesized vanadium-based MXene-V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf> (where T represents functional groups such as -OH, O, and F) by etching an aluminum layer from V<inf>2</inf>AlC. For the first time, a vanadium-based MXene-V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf>-embedded mixed matrix membrane was fabricated and utilized for removal of hazardous dye and humic acid from wastewater. With an increase in V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf> loading, the hydrophilicity of the polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) membrane reasonably improved, and its water contact angle was reduced from 82.8 to 70.9°. V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf> nanosheet-embedded PPSU membrane exhibited an excellent pure water permeability of 247 L m-2 h-1, which was 266% elevated than the pristine PPSU membrane. The V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf>-PPSU membrane revealed a good antifouling nature, thermal stability, and 98.5% removal of humic acid. The optimal membrane exhibited 96.6 and 82.02% expulsion of Reactive Black 5 (RB 5) dye and Reactive Orange 16 (RO 16) dye, respectively. The flux for RO 16 and RB 5 dyes and humic acid were remarkable with a value of 202.02, 161.61, and 141.41 L m-2 h-1, respectively. This work provides a new V<inf>2</inf>CT<inf>x</inf>-incorporated PPSU ultrafiltration membrane to effectively treat humic acid and dye wastewater. © 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.