Statistical analyses of pore radii on the performance of PET-nanocomposite membranes in the removal of iron and anions from Ibeshe River

Abstract

The industrialization in Lagos State has impacted the Ibeshe watershed, as a result, lower water quality is being experienced. Hence, a novel way on the potential use of waste to treat Ibeshe watershed by synthesizing of graphene oxide and incorporating it into PET bottle waste membranes was studied. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membranes embedded with 1wt%, 2wt%, and 3wt% graphene oxide (GO) (M1, M2, and M3), were prepared via non-solvent-induced phase separation on polyester nonwoven support with the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an additive. The surface morphologies of the three membranes appeared to be considerably different. The pore volume steadily reduces with an upsurge in the quantity of GO embedded in the membranes. A statistical assessment employing a uniform distribution curve was done using Python and the outcomes depict that the distribution of the radius data was firmly gathered around the mean. From the adsorption study, Fe2+ does not have the power to attract HCO3− in the transitory state at the surface of the membrane; hence HCO3− could not reach equilibrium at 80 min. The membranes’ performance was studied via flux and the rejection of iron and anions. The rejection rate calculated for the three anions and iron was observed to be high in the M3 membrane. The M3 membrane% rejection of the anions and iron is 96%, 85%%, 72%, and 60% for NO3−, Cl−, HCO3− and Fe, respectively. An upsurge in the amount of GO improved the water flux; hence, 3wt% GO gave the maximum water flux.

Keywords

• PET-nanocomposite membranes
• SEM
• ImageJ
• Python
• Pore radius
• Data distribution