Nanocomposite membranes prepared from cellulose acetate or polysulfone with Ag0 nanoparticles and nitron reagent for nitrate ion removal

This paper presents the preparation route for new cellulose acetate and polysulfone membranes with silver nanoparticles (Ag0 NPs) incorporated and functionalized with a nitrate-selective reagent, nitron (C20H16N4): M1 (CA 20%), M2 (CA 20% + Ag0 NPs), M3 (CA 20% + Ag0 NPs, nitron-impregnated), M4 (CA 20% + Ag+: nitron complex, 1:1 molar ratio), M5 (Psf 15%), M6 (Psf 15% + Ag0 NPs), M7 (Psf 15% + Ag0 NPs, nitron-impregnated), and M8 (Psf 15% + Ag+: nitron complex, 1:1 molar ratio), that were morphologically and structurally characterized by ATR-FTIR and 2D FTIR imaging, UV-Vis, XPS and TG-DSC techniques and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy. Dead-end filtration experiments were carried out to characterize the hydrodynamic performance of the prepared membranes. The best nitrate retention values were obtained for nitron-functionalized membranes M3 - 94.4% and M4 - 87.82%, comparable to those of commercially available nanofiltration membranes.