Composite polyester membranes with embedded dendrimer hosts and bimetallic Fe/Ni nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterisation and application to water treatment

This study describes the preparation, characterization and evaluation of new composite membranes with embedded dendrimer hosts and Fe/Ni nanoparticles. These new reactive membranes consist of films of cyclodextrin- poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers (β-CD-PPI) that are deposited onto commercial polysulfone microporous supports and crosslinked with trimesoyl chloride (TMC). The membranes were subsequently loaded with Fe/Ni nanoparticles and evaluated as separation/reactive media in aqueous solutions using 2,4,6-trichlorophenol as model pollutant. The morphology and physicochemical properties of the composite membranes were characterised using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), atomic force microscopy and measurements of contact angle, water intake, porosity and water permeability. The sorption capacity and catalytic activity of the membranes were evaluated using ion chromatography, atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry and UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The sizes of the embedded Fe/Ni nanoparticles in the membranes ranged from 40 to 66 nm as confirmed by HR-TEM. The reaction rates for the dechlorination of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol ranged from 0.00148 to 0.00250 min^-1. In all cases, we found that the reaction by-products consisted of chloride ions and mixtures of compounds including phenol (m/z = 93), 2,4-dichlorophenol (m/z = 163) and 4-chlorophenol (m/z = 128). The overall results of this study suggest that β-CD-PPI dendrimers are promising building blocks for the synthesis of composite and reactive membranes for the efficient removal of chlorinated organic pollutants from water.