Investigation on the feasibility of recycled polyvinylidene difluoride polymer from used membranes for removal of methylene blue: experimental and DFT studies

Recycling and 3D-Printing Biodegradable Membranes for Gas Separation-toward a Membrane Circular Economy

Polymer membranes employed in gas separation play a pivotal role in advancing environmental sustainability, energy production, and gas purification technologies. Despite their significance, the current design and manufacturing of these membranes lack cradle-to-cradle approaches, contributing to plastic waste pollution. This study explores emerging solutions, including the use of biodegradable biopolymers such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and membrane recycling, with a focus on the specific impact of mechanical recycling on the performance of biodegradable gas separation membranes. This research represents the first systematic exploration of recycling biodegradable membranes for gas separation. Demonstrating that PHB membranes can be recycled and remanufactured without solvents using hot-melt extrusion and 3D printing, the research highlights PHB's promising performance in developing more sustainable CO2 separations, despite an increase in gas permeability with successive recycling steps due to reduced polymer molecular weight. The study emphasizes the excellent thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability of PHB membranes, albeit with a marginal reduction in gas selectivity upon recycling. However, limitations in PHB's molecular weight affecting extrudability and processability restrict the recycling to three cycles. Anticipating that this study will serve as a foundational exploration, we foresee more sophisticated recycling studies for gas separation membranes, paving the way for a circular economy in future membrane technologies.

Sustainability in Membrane Technology: Membrane Recycling and Fabrication Using Recycled Waste

Membrane technology has shown a promising role in combating water scarcity, a globally faced challenge. However, the disposal of end-of-life membrane modules is problematic as the current practices include incineration and landfills as their final fate. In addition, the increase in population and lifestyle advancement have significantly enhanced waste generation, thus overwhelming landfills and exacerbating environmental repercussions and resource scarcity. These practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable. Recycling membranes and utilizing recycled material for their manufacturing is seen as a potential approach to address the aforementioned challenges. Depending on physiochemical conditions, the end-of-life membrane could be reutilized for similar, upgraded, and downgraded operations, thus extending the membrane lifespan while mitigating the environmental impact that occurred due to their disposal and new membrane preparation for similar purposes. Likewise, using recycled waste such as polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, tire rubber, keratin, and cellulose and their derivates for fabricating the membranes can significantly enhance environmental sustainability. This study advocates for and supports the integration of sustainability concepts into membrane technology by presenting the research carried out in this area and rigorously assessing the achieved progress. The membranes' recycling and their fabrication utilizing recycled waste materials are of special interest in this work. Furthermore, this study offers guidance for future research endeavors aimed at promoting environmental sustainability.

Synthesis of activated carbon composited with Egyptian black sand for enhanced adsorption performance toward methylene blue dye

The present study reports the feasibility of the synthesis of a novel porous composite adsorbent, prepared from olive stone activated carbon (OS400) and garnet (GA) mineral impregnations (referred to as OSMG). This composite (OSMG) was applied for its ability to adsorb a macromolecular organic dye. The composite's structural characteristics were evaluated using various techniques such as Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR). The specific surface area of the garnet (GA), (OS400), and (OSMG) were found to be 5.157 mg⋅g^-1, 1489.598 mg⋅g^-1, and 546.392 mg⋅g^-1, respectively. The specific surface area of the new composite (OSMG) was promoted to enhance the adsorption of methylene blue (MB). Experiments were conducted under various conditions, including contact time, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, and temperatures. Data from these experiments were analyzed using several adsorption models including Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R). The results indicated that, the adsorption fit best with the Freundlich model and that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic mechanism. Additionally, the thermodynamic analysis indicated the adsorption of MB onto garnet(GA) adsorbents is endothermic, while the sorption onto (OS400) and (OSMG) is an exothermic and non-spontaneous process. The OSMG composite can be used for at least five cycles without significant loss of adsorptive performance, and can easily be separated from the water after treatment.

In situ electrochemical modification of the Li/Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 interface in solid lithium metal batteries via an electrolyte additive

Solid-state Li batteries employing Li-metal anodes and solid Li/Li_1.3Al_0.3Ti_1.7(PO₄)₃ (LATP) electrolytes have emerged as promising next-generation energy storage devices due to their high energy density and safety. However, their performance is seriously limited by the irreversible reactivity of LATP with the Li-metal anode and the poor solid-solid interfacial contact between them, which result in relatively low ionic conductivity at the interface. The present work addresses these issues by presenting a method for modifying the Li/LATP interface in situ by applying 2-(trimethylsilyl) phenyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (2-(TMS)PTM) as a new type of electrolyte additive between the Li anode and the LATP electrolyte when assembling the battery, and then forming a uniform and thin interfacial layer via redox reactions occurring during the application of multiple charge-discharge cycles to the resulting battery. As a result of the significantly improved chemical compatibility between the Li anode and the LATP electrolyte, an as-assembled battery delivers a high reversible capacity of 165.7 mAh g^-1 and an outstanding capacity retention of 86.2% after 300 charge-discharge cycles conducted at a rate of 0.2C and a temperature of 30 °C. Accordingly, this work provides a new strategy for developing advanced solid-state Li metal batteries by tailoring the interface between the Li anode and the solid electrolyte.

Unravelling the Methylene Blue Adsorption Mechanism on Doped and Nondoped Polyaniline: A Combined Molecular Modeling and Experimental Investigation

A multiscale investigation including computational chemistry calculations and experimental studies was performed to elucidate and understand the methylene blue (MB) adsorption on polyaniline (PANI) from an aqueous solution. Static DFT and DFT-based ab initio molecular dynamics were used to characterize the intermolecular interactions of this dye molecule with nondoped and doped PANI. Experimental adsorption studies at different operating conditions were performed to complement the mechanism analysis of this adsorption system. Infrared spectroscopy studies and ab initio calculations showed the important role of π-π stacking and van der Waals interactions for the dye adsorption on PANI. Experimental results of MB adsorption on the PANI surface indicated that alkaline conditions were more favorable than acidic conditions where the MB adsorption capacity ranged from 9.91 mg/g at pH 1.8 to 23.16 mg/g at pH 10.9. Equilibrium adsorption studies with nondoped PANI revealed a fast removal of the dye molecules where the equilibrium adsorption was reached after 45 minutes. The kinetic parameters were calculated with the pseudo-second and pseudo-first order models, while the adsorption mechanism was analyzed using the intraparticle diffusion, Boyd, and Elovich models. Dye adsorption equilibrium was studied at pH 8 and 30 °C where Temkin, Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models as well as a statistical physics monolayer model were employed in data analysis. The saturation dye adsorption capacity was 40.2 mg/g where an inclined adsorption orientation of dye molecules on the PANI surface could be expected with an adsorption energy of 14.0 kJ/mol. This interaction energy clearly indicated that only physical interactions were involved in the MB dye adsorption mechanism, which was also confirmed by the calculations with the D-R isotherm model. These theoretical and experimental results are important to understand the dye adsorption properties of conductive polymers and to consolidate their application in the synthesis of new adsorbents and composites for water treatment.