Studies on removal of arsenic using cellulose acetate–zinc oxide nanoparticle mixed matrix membrane

Abstract

Mixed matrix membranes prepared by varying compositions of Cellulose acetate, acetone and formamide for the synthesis of ultrafiltration/nanofiltration membranes with and without nanoparticles for the removal of arsenic from synthetic solution. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by an in situ ultrasonic technique and characterization done using XRD and SEM. In the current study, batch experiments were conducted to characterize the maximum removal efficiency of arsenic by cellulose acetate–ZnO mixed matrix membrane. It was found that 58.77% of arsenic removal was obtained for the feed concentration of 1000 mg/L and pH range 6.8 ± 0.6. The nanoparticle-embedded membranes show higher removal efficiency, high flux and permeation rate than cellulose acetate membranes without embedded nanoparticles.