Polysulfone/hydrous ferric oxide ultrafiltration mixed matrix membrane: Preparation, characterization and its adsorptive removal of lead (II) from aqueous solution

• Porous UF polymeric membrane as a host media to hold the HFO nanoparticles.
• The PSf/HFO MMMs with adsorption capabilities show satisfactory removal of lead (II) ions from aqueous solution.
• MMMs provide dual-functions for adsorption and water separation.
• High quality permeates below MCL level of Pb(II) using PSf/HFO UF MMMs.

In this work, polysulfone (PSf)/hydrous ferric oxide nanoparticles (HFO NPs) ultrafiltration mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were prepared for adsorptive removal of lead (Pb) (II) from aqueous solution. The morphologies and physiochemical properties of prepared HFO NPs and MMMs were characterized using TEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, SEM, AFM, pure water flux analysis, contact angle measurement and membrane porosity analysis. The results revealed that the self-synthesized HFO NPs possessed a specific surface area (SSA) of 233.49 m2/g. Increasing weight ratio of HFO NPs in PSf membranes significantly enhanced membrane pure water flux from 229.5 L/m2 h to 942.1 L/m2 h, attributed by the improved membrane hydrophilicity (contact angle 8.0°) coupled with greater surface roughness (74.8 nm) and overall porosity (88.8%). Adsorption study showed that removal of Pb(II) was strongly dependent on pH in which the optimum pH was 6.5–7.0. Membrane M-1.5 (mass ratio of 1.5 HFO NPs:PSf) possessed the highest adsorption capacity of Pb(II) which was 13.2 mg/g. The adsorption mechanism of Pb(II) onto PSf/HFO MMMs was best fitted to Langmuir isotherm whereas the kinetic mechanism was best described by pseudo-second order model. The UF filtration study showed that this adsorptive MMMs produced permeate of high quality with Pb(II) content (<15 μg/L). The recovery of 96% demonstrated by the MMMs confirmed the superior potential of dual-function membrane for heavy metals removal.

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