| 1. |
- Khaliha, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Upcycling of plastic membrane industrial scraps and reuse as sorbent for emerging contaminants in water
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology. - 2053-1419 .- 2053-1400. ; 10:5, s. 1097-1107
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scraps obtained as waste of the industrial production of polysulfone and polysulfone-graphene oxide hollow fiber membranes (PSU-HF and PSU-GO-HF, respectively) were converted into granular materials and used as sorbents of several classes of emerging and standard water contaminants, such as drugs, heavy metal ions, and a mixture of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). The millimetric sized granules (PSU and PSU-GO, respectively) outperformed granular activated carbon (GAC), the industrial sorbent benchmark, in the adsorption of lead, diclofenac, and PFOA from tap water. Adsorption mechanism insight was achieved by molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrating the key role of graphene oxide (GO) on PSU-GO material performance. With respect to GAC, PSU-GO adsorption capacity was two times higher for diclofenac and PFOA and ten times higher for lead. Material safety was assessed by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, excluding GO nanosheets leaching, and combined potability test. Overall, our work proves that scrap conversion and reuse is a valuable strategy to reduce plastic industrial waste disposal and to integrate standard technology for enhanced water purification.
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| 2. |
- Lancellotti, Lidia, et al.
(författare)
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Selective ion transport in large-area graphene oxide membrane filters driven by the ionic radius and electrostatic interactions
- 2024
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Ingår i: Nanoscale. - 2040-3372 .- 2040-3364. ; 16:14, s. 7123-7133
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Filters made of graphene oxide (GO) are promising for purification of water and selective sieving of specific ions; while some results indicate the ionic radius as the discriminating factor in the sieving efficiency, the exact mechanism of sieving is still under debate. Furthermore, most of the reported GO filters are planar coatings with a simple geometry and an area much smaller than commercial water filters. Here, we show selective transport of different ions across GO coatings deposited on standard hollow fiber filters with an area >10 times larger than typical filters reported. Thanks to the fabrication procedure, we obtained a uniform coating on such complex geometry with no cracks or holes. Monovalent ions like Na+ and K+ can be transported through these filters by applying a low electric voltage, while divalent ions are blocked. By combining transport and adsorption measurements with molecular dynamics simulations and spectroscopic characterization, we unravel the ion sieving mechanism and demonstrate that it is mainly due to the interactions of the ions with the carboxylate groups present on the GO surface at neutral pH.
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