Nanofibrous Membrane of Sulfonated Poly(ethylene terephthalate) for Removal of Metal Ions

In this investigation anelectrospunsulfonated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (SPET) nanofibrous mat was prepared by electrospinning of the SPET solution in trifluoroaceticacid (TFA)/dichloromethane (DCM) mixture. The produced nanofibers had average diameter of 133nm. The performance of the aforementioned membrane for removal ofFe(3+), Mg2+ and Ca2+ under different conditions of applied pH and pressure wasstudied. The cross flow recirculation ultrafiltration set-up was employed. Under optimum conditions (pH 1.5 and pressure of 1.2 bar) the removal of Fe3+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were 87.1, 77.14 and 34.92, respectively. The filtration mechanism was also determined through blocking laws and permeate volume data. Subsequently, an acceptable agreement (98%) was achieved for internal pore blocking mechanism. Two equilibrium adsorption isotherms: Langmuir and Freundlich were fitted to the salts' equilibrium sorption data on SPET membrane at different feed concentrations. The Freundlich isotherm was found to well represent the measured adsorption data based on the higher coefficientof determination (r(2)).