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Driven by the urgent need for a solution to tackle the surge of rice husk (RH) and waste frying oil (WFO) waste accumulation at a global scale, this report highlights the use of calcium silicates (CS) extracted from acid-pre-treated rice husk ash (RHA) for free fatty acid (FFA) removal from WFO as conventional RHA shows limited FFA adsorption performance. A novel alkaline earth silicate extraction method from acid-pre-treated RHA was outlined. The structural and behavioural attributes of the synthesised CS were identified through BET, SEM-EDS, and XRD analyses and compared to those of RHA. Notable morphology and structural modification were determined, including reducing specific surface areas, mitigating from amorphous to crystalline structure with regular geometric forms, and detecting Si–O–Ca functional groups exclusive to CS adsorbents. A comparison study showed superior lauric acid (LA) adsorption performance by CS absorbents over acid-pre-treated RHA, with a significant increase from 0.0831 ± 0.0004 mmol LA/g to 2.5808 ± 0.0011 mmol LA/g after 60 min. Recognised as the best-performing CS adsorbent, CS-1.0 was used for further investigations on the effect of dosage, LA concentration, and temperature for efficient LA adsorption, with up to 100% LA removal and 5.6712 ± 0.0016 mmol LA/g adsorption capacity. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic studies showed LA adsorption onto CS-1.0 followed Freundlich isotherm with KF = 0.0598 mmol(1-1/n) L(1/n) g−1 & Qe,cal = 3.1696 mmol g−1 and intraparticle diffusion model with kid = 0.1250 mmol g−1 min0.5 & Ci = 0.9625 mmol g−1, indicating rapid initial adsorption and involvement of carboxylate end of LA and the calcium ions on the CS-1.0 in the rate-limiting step. The high equilibrium adsorption capacity and LA adsorption rate indicated that the proposed CS-1.0 adsorbent has excellent potential to recover FFA from WFO effectively.

An end-to-end process to achieve a complete framework methodology for Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) growth prediction is crucial for water management, especially in implementing robust predictive modelling of HAB to prevent water pollution. Previous works have separately focused on the prediction part or the implementation of the water monitoring system that involves the integration of sensors through the Internet of Things (IoT). These studies lack in terms of discussion of both IoT with the algae ecological domain and prediction method. Therefore, this paper takes the initiative to provide a wider coverage on the end-to-end process including the assembly and integration of sensors, data acquisition and predictive modelling using data-driven approaches, for example, machine learning, deep learning and deep time series forecasting algorithm for future algal bloom outbreak mitigation. This paper believes that discussion in a complete framework perspective based on the execution of each phase is important besides providing a true understanding of the algae growth factors and prediction problems to achieve a robust prediction algorithm for algal growth. In the end, this paper presents proof that selecting the right features and utilising time series with deep learning are much better for tackling the issues of highly non-linear and dynamic algae ecological data that are briefly introduced in this paper. Among all the algorithms selected, Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) is the best fit for the prediction method and has outperformed other basic machine learning methods in accurately predicting algal growth through the prediction of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) as a strong indicator of algal presence for coastal studies.

The treatment of organic pollutants in water including semiconductor photocatalysis is a promising approach to disinfect water. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of Ce loaded on mesoporous Ti:Ash catalyst for water pretreatment process. The mesoporous Ti:Ash catalyst that doped with Ce was synthesized through wet impregnation method with 5%, 10%, and 15% weight percentage of Ce doped on 40:60 Ti:Ash. The photocatalytic properties were characterized through X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption studies and diffuse reflectance UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. It is found that the Ti:Ash nanocomposites doped with Ce shifted the light absorption band-edge position to the visible region. Moreover, the Ce doped Ti:Ash has large surface area and pore diameter. The Ce doping could significantly improve the absorption edge of visible light and adjust the cut-off absorption wavelength from 404 nm to 451, 477 and 496 nm for 5%, 10% and 15% Ce-doped mesoporous Ti:Ash catalysts, respectively. As the Ce doping ratio increased, the band gaps decreased from 3.06 eV to 2.53 eV. The most contaminant reduction up to 45% was achieved when Ti:Ash:Ce 40:55:5 was used. Higher Ce loading on the photocatalyst may reduce the photocatalyst performance because supernumerary metal loading on TiO2 can block TiO2 defect sites which are necessary for the adsorption and photoactivation. The OPFA also acts as an adsorbent for some pollutants besides, reducing the water salinity. It can be deduced that the hybrid TiO2 photocatalyst that synthesized with OPFA and doped with Ce has huge potential to treat seawater prior to commercial seawater desalination process. Copyright © 2020 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is now 50% higher than in the preindustrial period and efforts to reduce CO2 emission through carbon capture and utilization (CCU) are blooming. Membranes are one of the attractive alternatives for such application. In this study, a rubbery polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane is incorporated with magnesium oxide (MgO) with a hierarchically two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet shape for CO2 separation. The average thickness of the synthesized MgO nanosheet in this study is 35.3 ± 1.5 nm. Based on the pure gas separation performance, the optimal loading obtained is at 1 wt.% where there is no observable significant agglomeration. CO2 permeability was reduced from 2382 Barrer to 1929 Barrer while CO2/N2 selectivity increased from only 11.4 to 12.7, and CO2/CH4 remained relatively constant when the MMM was operated at 2 bar and 25 °C. Sedimentation of the filler was observed when the loading was further increased to 5 wt.%, forming interfacial defects on the bottom side of the membrane and causing increased CO2 gas permeability from 1929 Barrer to 2104 Barrer as compared to filler loading at 1 wt.%, whereas the CO2/N2 ideal selectivity increased from 12.1 to 15.0. Additionally, this study shows that there was no significant impact of pressure on separation performance. There was a linear decline of CO2 permeability with increasing upstream pressure while there were no changes to the CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivity.

Desalination of hypersaline brine is known as one of the methods to cope with the rising global concern on brine disposal in high-salinity water treatment. However, the main problem of hypersaline brine desalination is the high energy usage resulting from the high operating pressure. In this work, we carried out a parametric analysis on a spiral wound membrane (SWM) module to predict the performance of hypersaline brine desalination, in terms of mass transfer and specific energy consumption (SEC). Our analysis shows that at a low inlet pressure of 65 bar, a significantly higher SEC is observed for high feed concentration of brine water compared with seawater (i.e., 0.08 vs. 0.035) due to the very low process recovery ratio (i.e., 1%). Hence, an inlet pressure of at least 75 bar is recommended to minimise energy consumption. A higher feed velocity is also preferred due to its larger productivity when compared with a slightly higher energy requirement. This study found that the SEC reduction is greatly affected by the pressure recovery and the pump efficiencies for brine desalination using SWM, and employing them with high efficiencies (ηR ≥ 95% and ηpump ≥ 50%) can reduce SEC by at least 33% while showing a comparable SEC with SWRO desalination (3).

The current work predicted the permeance of CO2 across a ZIF-L@PDMS/PES composite membrane using two different models. The membrane was fabricated by dipping a PES hollow fiber membrane in a coating solution made using PDMS that contained ZIF-L. First, flat sheet ZIF-L@PDMS membranes were fabricated to verify the role of ZIF-L on the gas separation performance of the membrane. Based on the data, the presence of ZIF-L in the PDMS matrix allowed enhancement of both permeability and selectivity of CO2, where the maximum value was obtained at 1 wt% of ZIF-L. The performance of ZIF-L@PDMS layer, as a function of ZIF-L loading, was well-predicted by the Cussler model. Such information was then used to model the CO2 permeance across ZIF-L@PDMS/PES composite membrane via the correction factor, which was introduced in the resistance in series model. This work discovered that the model must consider the penetration depth and the inorganic loading (in the case of ZIF-L@PDMS/PES). The error between the predicted CO2 permeance and the experimental results was found to be minimal.

Lead (Pb) exposure can be harmful to public health, especially through drinking water. One of the promising treatment methods for lead contaminated water is the adsorption-filtration method. To ensure the cost-effectiveness of the process, naturally derived adsorbent shall be utilised. In this study, hydroxyapatite particles, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 (HAP) derived from waste cockle shell, were incorporated into the outer layer of polysulfone/HAP (PSf/HAP) dual-layer hollow fibre (DLHF) membrane to enhance the removal of lead from the water source due to its hydrophilic nature and excellent adsorption capacity. The PSf/HAP DLHF membranes at different HAP loadings in the outer layer (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) were fabricated via the co-extrusion phase inversion technique. The performance of the DLHF membranes was evaluated in terms of pure water flux, permeability and adsorption capacity towards lead. The results indicated that the HAP was successfully incorporated into the outer layer of the membrane, as visibly confirmed by microscopic analysis. The trend was towards an increase in pure water flux, permeability and lead adsorption capacity as the HAP loading increased to the optimum loading of 30 wt%. The optimized DLHF membrane displayed a reduced water contact angle by 95%, indicating its improved surface hydrophilicity, which positively affects the pure water flux and permeability of the membrane. Furthermore, the DLHF membrane possessed the highest lead adsorption capacity, 141.2 mg/g. The development of a hybrid inorganic–organic DLHF membrane via the incorporation of the naturally derived HAP in the outer layer is a cost-effective approach to treat lead contaminated water.

The severe water pollution from effluent dyes threatens human health. This study created pH-magnetic-photocatalytic polymer microspheres to conveniently separate the photocatalyst nanoparticles from the treated water by applying an external magnetic field. While fabricating magnetic nanoparticles’ (MNPs) microspheres, incorporating 0.5 wt.% iron oxide (Fe3O4) showed the best magnetophoretic separation ability, as all the MNPs microspheres were attracted toward the external magnet. Subsequently, hybrid organic–inorganic polyoxometalates (HPOM), a self-synthesized photocatalyst, were linked with the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (f-MNPs) to prepare augmented magnetic-photocatalytic microspheres. The photodegradation dye removal efficiency of the augmented magnetic-photocatalytic microspheres (f-MNPs-HPOM) was then compared with that of the commercial titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst (f-MNPs-TiO2). Results showed that f-MNPs-HPOM microspheres with 74 ± 0.7% photocatalytic removal efficiency better degraded methylene orange (MO) than f-MNPs-TiO2 (70 ± 0.8%) at an unadjusted pH under UV-light irradiation for 90 min. The excellent performance was mainly attributed to the lower band-gap energy of HPOM (2.65 eV), which required lower energy to be photoactivated under UV light. The f-MNPs-HPOM microspheres demonstrated excellent reusability and stability in the photo-decolorization of MO, as the microspheres retained nearly the same removal percentage throughout the three continuous cycles. The degradation rate was also found to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetics. Furthermore, f-MNPs-HPOM microspheres were pH-responsive in the photodegradation of MO and methylene blue (MB) at pH 3 (acidic) and pH 9 (alkaline). Overall, it was demonstrated that using HPOM photocatalysts in the preparation of magnetic-photocatalytic microspheres resulted in better dye degradation than TiO2 photocatalysts.

Heavy metal pollution has prompted researchers to establish the most effective method to tackle the impacts of heavy metals on living things and the environment, which include by applying nanoparticles. An example is the employment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as an additive in an intermediate membrane or polymer inclusion membrane (PIM). The MWCNTs were added to enhance the properties and reinforce the transport performance of zinc (II) ion (Zn2+) removal from the source phase to the receiver phase by the PIMs. The present study constructed a membrane with a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)-based polymer, dioctyl phthalate (DOP) plasticiser, and bis-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (B2EHP) carrier incorporated with different concentrations of MWCNTs. The contact angle (CA), water uptake, ion exchange capacity (IEC), and porosity of the fabricated membranes were evaluated. The membrane was also characterised by employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Subsequently, the fabricated PIM (W1) and mixed matrix (MM)-PIM (W2–W5) samples were assessed under different parameters to acquire the ideal membrane composition and effectiveness. Kinetic modelling of Zn2+ removal by the fabricated PIMs under similar conditions was performed to reveal the mechanisms involved. The average removal efficiency of the membranes was >99% at different parameter conditions. Nevertheless, the W3 membrane with 1.0 wt% MWCNT immersed in a 5 mg/L initial Zn2+ concentration and 1.0 M receiver solution for seven hours at pH 2 demonstrated the highest percentage of Zn2+ removal. The experimental data were best fitted to the pseudo-first-order kinetic model (PFO) in kinetic modelling, and the permeability and flux of the W3 at optimum conditions were 0.053 m s−1 and 0.0532 mol m−2 s−1, respectively. In conclusion, the transport mechanism of Zn2+ was enhanced with the addition of the MWCNTs.

CO2/H2 separation using membrane technology is an important research area in order to obtain high purity hydrogen as one source of clean energy. Finding a suitable inorganic membrane is one of the critical issues, which needs to be explored for CO2/H2 separation. In the present study, Ba-SAPO-34 zeolite membrane was synthesized and followed by a modification process. CO2/H2 separation of the membrane was investigated by varying the independent process variables (CO2 % in the feed, pressure difference across the membrane and temperature). Modeling and optimization for the responses (CO2/H2 separation selectivity and CO2 permeance) was performed by applying response surface methodology and central composite design, which is available in Design Expert software. The accuracy of the models in predicting the response was tested by comparing with the experimental value of response and the two values were in good agreement. The optimization of the models gave CO2 permeance of 19.23 × 10−7 mol/m2 s Pa and CO2/H2 separation selectivity of 11.6 at 5% CO2 in the feed, a pressure difference of 100 kPa, and temperature of 30 °C for Ba-SAPO-34 zeolite membrane.

Sustainable material sources are an important agenda to protect the environment and to meet human needs. In this study, Scenedesmus sp. was used to treat municipal landfill leachate via batch and continuous cultivation modes to protect the environment and explore sufficient biomass production for bioethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Physicochemical characteristics of leachate were determined for the phases before, during, and after the process. Batch and continuous cultivation were used to treat raw leachate to determine optimum conditions for treatment. Then, the biomass of Scenedesmus sp. with and without sonication was used as a substrate for ethanol production. Sonication was carried out for biomass cell disruption for 20 min at a frequency of 40 kHz. Through batch cultivation mode, it was found that pH 7 was the optimum condition for leachate treatment. Continuous cultivation mode had the highest removal values for COD, phosphorus, and carbohydrate, namely 82.81%, 79.70%, and 84.35%, respectively, among other modes. As for ethanol production, biomass without sonication with 9.026 mg·L−1 ethanol, a biomass concentration of 3.300 µg·L−1, and pH 5 were higher than biomass with sonication with 5.562 mg·L−1 ethanol, a biomass concentration of 0.110 µg·L−1, and pH 5. Therefore, it is evident that the leachate has the potential to be treated by Scenedesmus sp. and converted to bioethanol in line with the concept of sustainable materials.

In this study, membrane fabrication was achieved by two different methods: (i) self-assembly and (ii) physical blending of TiO2 in PES membrane for humic acid filtration. The TiO2 nanoparticles were self-assembled by using TBT as the precursor and pluronic F127 as triblock copolymers around the membrane pores. This was achieved by manipulating the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of TBT precursors during the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process. On the other hand, the TiO2 was physically blended as a comparison to the previous method. The characteristic of the membrane was analysed to explore the possibility of enhancing the membrane antifouling mechanism and the membrane flux. The membrane morphology, pore size, porosity, and contact angle were characterised. Both methods proved to be able to enhance the antifouling properties and flux performance. The HA rejection increased up to 95% with membrane flux 55.40 kg m−2 h−1. The rejection rate was not significantly improved for either method. However, the antifouling characteristic for the self-assembly TiO2/PES membrane was better than the physically blended membrane. This was found to be due to the high surface hydrophilicity of the MM membrane, which repelled the hydrophobic HA and consequently blocked the HA adsorption onto the surface.

The application of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) for the aquatic remediation of several heavy metals, dyes, and nutrients has been extensively studied. However, its application in treating organic compounds such as Ibuprofen, an emerging pharmaceutical contaminant that poses potential environmental problems, has not been explored satisfactorily. Therefore, graphene oxide (GO) doped PIMs were fabricated, characterized, and applied to extract aqueous Ibuprofen at varied pH conditions. The doped PIMs were synthesized using a low concentration of Aliquat 336 as carrier and 0, 0.15, 0.45, and 0.75% GO as nanoparticles in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base polymer without adding any plasticizer. The synthesized PIM was characterized by SEM, FTIR, physical, and chemical stability. The GO doped PIM was well plasticized and had an optimal Ibuprofen extraction efficiency of about 84% at pH of 10 and 0.75% GO concentration. Furthermore, the GO doped PIM’s chemical stability indicates better stability in acidic solution than in the alkaline solution. This study demonstrates that the graphene oxide-doped PIM significantly enhanced the extraction of Ibuprofen at a low concentration. However, further research is required to improve its stability and efficiency for the remediation of the ubiquitous Ibuprofen in the aquatic environment.

The implementation of hydrophobicity on membranes is becoming crucial in current membrane technological development, especially in membrane gas absorption (MGA). In order to prevent membrane wetting, a polypropylene (PP) dense layer coating was deposited on a commercial poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane as a method of enhancing surface hydrophobicity. The weight concentration of PP pellets was varied from 10 mg mL−1 to 40 mg mL−1 and dissolved in xylene. A two-step dip coating was implemented where the PVDF membrane was immersed in a non-solvent followed by a polymer coating solution. The effects of the modified membrane with the non-solvent methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and without the non–solvent was investigated over all weight concentrations of the coating solution. The SEM investigation found that the modified membrane surface transfiguration formed microspherulites that intensified as PP concentration increased with and without MEK. To understand the coating formation further, the solvent–non-solvent compatibility with the polymer was also discussed in this study. The membrane characterizations on the porosity, the contact angle, and the FTIR spectra were also conducted in determining the polymer coating properties. Hydrophobic membrane was achieved up to 119.85° contact angle and peak porosity of 87.62% using MEK as the non-solvent 40 mg mL−1 PP concentration. The objective of the current manuscript was to test the hydrophobicity and wetting degree of the coating layer. Hence, physical absorption via the membrane contactor using CO2 as the feed gas was carried out. The maximum CO2 flux of 3.33 × 10−4 mol m−2 s−1 was achieved by 25 mg modified membrane at a fixed absorbent flow rate of 100 mL min−1 while 40 mg modified membrane showed better overall flux stability.

The main problem usually faced by commercial ceramic membranes in the treatment of produced water (PW) is low water flux even though ceramic membrane was well-known with their excellent mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. In the process of minimizing the problem faced by commercial ceramic membranes, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposites, which synthesized via a sol-gel method, were deposited on the active layer of the hydrolysed bentonite membrane. This paper studied the influence of grafting time of TiO2 nanocomposite on the properties and performance of the coated bentonite membranes. Several characterizations, which are Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), contact angle, porosity, and average pore size, were applied to both pristine and coated bentonite membranes to compare the properties of the membranes. The deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles on the surface of the coated bentonite membranes was successfully confirmed by the characterization results. The pure water flux performance showed an increment from 262.29 L h−1 m−² bar−1 (pristine bentonite membrane) to 337.05 L h−1 m−² bar−1 (Ti-Ben 30) and 438.33 L h−1 m−² bar−1 (Ti-Ben 60) as the grafting time increase but when the grafting time reached 90 min (Ti-Ben 90), the pure water flux was decreased to 214.22 L h−1 m−² bar−1 which is lower than the pristine membrane. The oil rejection performance also revealed an increase in the oil rejection performance from 95 to 99%. These findings can be a good example to further studies and exploit the advantages of modified ceramic membranes in PW treatment.

Ibuprofen (IBP) is a pharmaceutical product that is widely prescribed as an over-the-counter painkiller. It has been classified as a contaminant of emerging concern (CEC) that has received global attention in the search for a better wastewater separation technology. The emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) is one of the potential solutions for IBP removal from wastewater owing to its advantages, such as the ability to remove a highly soluble solute, energy efficient and tuneable formulation. To develop this ELM, a series of parameters such as stirring speed, emulsification time, organic to internal phase volume ratio (O/I), internal phase concentration, carrier concentration and surfactant concentration were studied. The extraction was carried out for 15 min stirring time and the concentration of IBP in the feed phase was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The optimum formulation for the ELM was found at 300 rpm stirring speed, 20 min emulsification time, 3:1 of O/I, 0.1 M ammonia, NH3 (stripping agent), 6 wt% trioctylamine, TOA (carrier) and 2 wt% sorbitan monooleate, Span 80 (non-ionic surfactant). IBP removal of 89% was achieved at the optimum parameters of ELM. The current research demonstrated that a newly formulated ELM has great potential in removing a low concentration IBP from wastewater.

A novel polyethersulfone (PES)/microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) composite membrane for humic acid (HA) removal in water was fabricated using the phase inversion method by blending hydrophilic MCC with intrinsically hydrophobic PES in a lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide (LiCl/DMAc) co-solvent system. A rheological study indicated that the MCC-containing casting solutions exhibited a significant increase in viscosity, which directly influenced the composite membrane’s pore structure. Compared to the pristine PES membrane, the composite membranes have a larger surface pore size, elongated finger-like structure, and presence of sponge-like pores. The water contact angle and pure water flux of the composite membranes indicated an increase in hydrophilicity of the modified membranes. However, the permeability of the composite membranes started to decrease at 3 wt.% MCC and beyond. The natural organic matter removal experiments were performed using humic acid (HA) as the surface water pollutant. The hydrophobic HA rejection was significantly increased by the enhanced hydrophilic PES/MCC composite membrane via the hydrophobic–hydrophilic interaction and pore size exclusion. This study provides insight into the utilization of a low-cost and environmentally friendly additive to improve the hydrophilicity of PES membranes for efficient removal of HA in water.

Widespread atrazine use is associated with an increasing incidence of contamination of drinking water. Thus, a biosensor using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was developed to detect the amount of atrazine in water to ensure prevention of exposure levels that could lead to reproductive effects in living organisms. In this study, the influence of the porogen on the selectivity of MIPs was investigated. The porogen plays a pivotal role in molecular imprinting as it affects the physical properties and governs the prepolymerization complex of the resulting polymer, which in turn firmly defines the recognition properties of the resulting molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). Therefore, bulk MIPs against atrazine (Atr) were synthesized based on methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a crosslinker; they were prepared in toluene and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The imprinting factor, binding capacity, and structural stability were evaluated using the respective porogenic solvents. Along with the characterization of the morphology of the obtained polymers via SEM and BET analysis, the kinetic and adsorption analyses were demonstrated and verified. The highest imprinting factor, binding capacity, and the highest structural stability were found to be on polymer synthesized in a medium of MAA and EGDMA, which contained 90% toluene and 10% DMSO as porogen. Moreover, the response for Atr concentrations by the PVC-based electrochemical sensor was found to be at a detection limit of 0.0049 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor proved to be an effective sensor with high sensitivity and low Limit of Detection (LOD) for Atr detection. The construction of the sensor will act as a baseline for a fully functionalized membrane sensor.

This paper focus to examine the best molecular interaction between Polyamide Thin Film Composite (PA TFC) layers with different properties of the support membrane. The support membrane of Nylon 66 (N66) and Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was chosen to represent the hydrophilic and hydrophobic model respectively in the Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation. The Condensed-Phase Optimized Molecular Potential for Atomistic Simulation Studies (COMPASS) force field was used with the total simulation runs were set 1000 picoseconds run production ensembles. The temperature and pressure set for both ensembles were 298 K and 1 atm respectively. The validity of our model densities data was check and calculated where the deviation must be less than 6%. The comparison between hydrophobic and hydrophilic of the support membrane data was examined by the distance and magnitude of intensity of the Radial Distribution Function (RDF's) trends.

Delignified lignocellulosic biomass was functionalized with amine groups. Then, the pretreated lignin-free date pits cellulose and the amine-functionalized-date pits cellulose (0–5 wt%) were incorporated into a polysulfone polymer matrix to fabricate composite membranes. The amine groups give additional hydrogen bonding to those existing from the hydroxyl groups in the date pits cellulose. The approach gives an efficient avenue to enhance the CO2 molecules’ transport pathways through the membrane matrix. The interactions between phases were investigated via Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), whereas pure gases (CO2 and N2) were used to evaluate the gas separation performances. Additionally, the thermal and mechanical properties of the fabricated composites were tested. The pure polysulfone membrane achieved an optimum separation performance at 4 Bar. The optimum separation performance for the composite membranes is achieved at 2 wt%. About 32% and 33% increments of the ideal CO2/N2 selectivity is achieved for the lignin-free date pits cellulose composite membrane and the amine-functionalized-date pits cellulose composite membrane, respectively.

The hydrophobic membranes have been widely explored to meet the membrane characteristics for the membrane distillation (MD) process. Inorganic metal oxide nanoparticles have been used to improve the membrane hydrophobicity, but limited studies have used nano clay particles. This study introduces halloysite nanotube (HNT) as an alternative material to synthesis a hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-HNT membrane. The PVDF membranes were fabricated using functionalized HNTs (e.g., carnauba wax and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl-trichlorosilane (FOTS)). The results were determined by Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection, scanning electron microscope, goniometer and porometer to determine the desired hydrophobic membrane for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The addition of FOTS-HNT (fs-HNT) and carnauba wax-HNT (fw-HNT) in the PVDF membrane enhanced the water contact angle (CA) to 127° and 137°, respectively. The presence of fw-HNT in the PVDF membrane exhibited higher liquid entry pressure (LEP) (2.64 bar) compared to fs-HNT in the membrane matrix (1.44 bar). The PVDF/fw-HNT membrane (Pfw-HNT) obtained the highest flux of 7.24 L/m2h with 99.9% salt removal. A stable permeability in the Pfw-HNT membrane was obtained throughout 16 h of DCMD. The incorporation of fw-HNT in the PVDF membrane had improved the anti-wetting properties and the membrane performance with the anti-fouling effect.

Natural organic matters (NOMs) have been found to be the major foulant in the application of ultrafiltration (UF) for treating surface water. Against this background, although hydrophilicity has been demonstrated to aid fouling mitigation, other parameters such as membrane surface morphology may contribute equally to improved fouling resistance. In this work, with humic acid solution as the model substance, the effects of titanium dioxides (TiO2) types (PC-20, P25, and X500) on membrane anti-fouling and defouling properties were comparatively analysed. The aims are (1) to determine the correlation between membrane surface morphology and membrane fouling and (2) to investigate the anti-fouling and UV-cleaning abilities of PVDF/TiO2 mixed-matrix membranes with different membrane topographies and surface energy conditions. The mixed-matrix membrane with P25 TiO2 exhibited the most significant UV-defouling ability, with a high irreversible flux recovery ratio (IFRR(UV)) of 16.56 after 6 h of UV irradiation, whereas that with X500 TiO2 exhibited both superior anti-fouling and defouling properties due to its smoother surface and its highly reactive surface layer.

In this paper, a review of the compatibility of polymeric membranes with lignocellulosic biomass is presented. The structure and composition of lignocellulosic biomass which could enhance membrane fabrications are considered. However, strong cell walls and interchain hindrances have limited the commercial-scale applications of raw lignocellulosic biomasses. These shortcomings can be surpassed to improve lignocellulosic biomass applications by using the proposed pretreatment methods, including physical and chemical methods, before incorporation into a single-polymer or copolymer matrix. It is imperative to understand the characteristics of lignocellulosic biomass and polymeric membranes, as well as to investigate membrane materials and how the separation performance of polymeric membranes containing lignocellulosic biomass can be influenced. Hence, lignocellulosic biomass and polymer modification and interfacial morphology improvement become necessary in producing mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). In general, the present study has shown that future membrane generations could attain high performance, e.g., CO2 separation using MMMs containing pretreated lignocellulosic biomasses with reachable hydroxyl group radicals.

The aim of this study is to develop an Emulsion Liquid Membrane (ELM) system for the extraction of acetaminophen (ACTP). Firstly, ELM was formulated by the screening of liquid membrane components where the compatibility of diluent with other membrane phase components was investigated. The chosen carrier, diluent and stripping solution must comply with the reaction at the interface of the membrane to support the simultaneous processes of extraction and stripping. Therefore, parameters such as stripping agent concentration, volume ratio, initial concentration of feed phase and HCl concentration were investigated. A stable emulsion and maximum acetaminophen removal efficiency of 85% was achieved.

In this study, the antifouling properties of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes blended with different amounts of ZnO nanoparticles and a fixed ratio of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)-acetone mixture as a solvent were investigated. The properties and performance of the fabricated membranes were examined in terms of hydrophilicity, porosity, pore size, surface and cross-section image using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface roughness using atomic force microscopy (AFM), pure water flux, and humic acid filtration. Addition of ZnO as expected was found to improve the hydrophilicity as well as to encourage pore formation. However, the agglomeration of ZnO at a higher concentration cannot be avoided even when dissolved in a mixed solvent. The presence of highly volatile acetone contributed to the tight skin layer of the membrane which shows remarkable antifouling ability with the highest flux recovery ratio and negligible irreversible fouling. ZnO NPs in acetone/NMP mixed solvent shows an improvement in flux and rejection, but, the fouling resistance was moderate compared to the pristine membrane.

Thin Film Composite (TFC) polyamide membranes were prepared by interfacially polymerizing secondary amide (piperazine) and highly hydrophilic aromatic primary amide (3,5-diaminobenzoic acid) with trimesoyl chloride onto the polysulfone support. The salt rejection and flux of these composite membranes were measured at various feed pressures. Incorporation of the 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid cause an increase in hydraulic permeance and flux but loss in the rejection of NaCl and Na2SO4. Higher concentration of 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid produced a loose and defected skin layer but small quantity of 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid can improved the flux and rejection of Na2SO4. The reaction between the 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid, piperazine and trimesoyl chloride was further confirmed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR).

Suspended solids and residual oil removal in a liquid are relevant to numerous research areas and industry. The suspended solid cannot be removed completely by plain settling. Large and heavy particles can settle out readily, but smaller and lighter particles settle very slowly or in some cases do not settle at all. Because of this, it requires efficient physical-chemical pretreatment methods. Our current research is to study the pretreatment methods in the removal of suspended solids and residual oil content in POME. Preliminary analysis shows that POME contains 40,000 mg/L suspended solid and 4,000 mg/L oil and grease content that relatively very high compared to the maximum allowable limit by the Malaysian Department of Environment which are only 400 mg/L and 50 mg/L respectively. The methods chosen were coagulation-sedimentation method for suspended solids removal and solvent extraction for residual oil removal. Jar test apparatus was used as the standard procedure for bench-scale testing and alum was used as the coagulant. Parameters studied were alum dosage, mixing time, mixing speed, sedimentation time and pH. For removal of residual oil, six different organic solvents; n-hexane, n-heptane, benzene, petroleum ether, pentane and petroleum benzene were used. For every solvent the effect of solvent ratio, mixing time, mixing speed and pH were analyzed. The results show that the optimum conditions in removal of suspended solid from POME were at pH 4.11, sedimentation time of 100 minutes and 150 rpm mixing speed with 1.5 hr mixing time. N-hexane give the best performance in extracting residual oil from POME with solvent to POME ratio of 6:10. It was estimated about 0.54 grams of oil and grease can be extracted with optimum variables at pH 4, mixing speed of 200 rpm, and 20 minutes mixing time. Key Words: palm oil mill effluent, coagulation, suspended solid, residual oil, solvent extraction.