Issue 12, 2019

Novel triangular silver nanoparticle modified membranes for enhanced antifouling performance

Abstract

This study marks the first ever attempt at the successful fabrication of a novel reactive membrane to combat fouling through layer-by-layer (LBL) surface modification with polyelectrolyte (PE), followed by anisotropic triangular silver nanoparticles (TSNP). The morphology and the presence of TSNP on the membrane was confirmed by HR-TEM, FE-SEM and XPS. The charge density of the novel membrane (PE-TSNP) was increased 15.6 fold, as a result of the sharp-tip morphology of the TSNP forming tip-based “hot spots” on the membrane surface and high-atom-density active facets, which also enhanced the membrane hydrophilicity by 36%. Owing to these improved features, the novel membrane displayed remarkable antibacterial and anti-adhesion properties by achieving 100% bactericidal effect against high initial bacterial concentration (107 CFU mL−1). The membrane flux was improved by 31% while retaining a high flux recovery rate of 98.2% against biofouling. The membrane also mitigated organic and bio-organic fouling by maintaining high flux recovery rates of 96% and 95% respectively. As compared with a spherical silver nanoparticle modified membrane (PE-SSNP), the PE-TSNP membrane was 25.7% more hydrophilic and achieved 10% higher bacterial killing. Moreover, the novel membrane displayed 9.5%, 11.6%, and 14% higher flux recovery rates than that of the PE-SSNP membrane against biofouling, organic and bio-organic fouling respectively. Furthermore, the novel membrane retained a long-term biocidal capability of 93% even after 4 months of successive tests. ICP-MS revealed silver ion leaching of 4 μg L−1 and the total silver loss of 14% from the PE-TSNP membrane after 14 days.

Graphical abstract: Novel triangular silver nanoparticle modified membranes for enhanced antifouling performance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Dec 2018
Accepted
18 Feb 2019
First published
26 Feb 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 6733-6744

Novel triangular silver nanoparticle modified membranes for enhanced antifouling performance

J. Ahmad, X. Wen, F. Li and B. Wang, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 6733 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA10540E

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