Abstract
Thin-film composite nanofiltration membranes were fabricated via the interfacial polymerization method from optimized polyethersulfone (PES) mixed matrix membranes, using m-phenylenediamine and trimesoyl chloride monomers, which produced a selective polyamide layer and were used for heavy metal removal. The concentration of trimesoyl chloride (TMC) is a critical factor to govern the properties of the selective polyamide layer, which directly influences the surface morphology and selective performance of (0.5 wt%) PES-coreshell-Fe(3)O(4)/ZnO membranes. Morphological structure, illustrated by SEM images, elucidated the role of TMC addition. FTIR spectra validated the successful formation of the amine and acyl chloride groups. Performance studies illustrated that NF3 (made from 0.1 w/v% of TMC) showed a unique salt rejection trend (NaCl > Na(2)SO(4) > MgCl(2)) with an optimal salt rejection of 52.64%, 50.91%, and 12.67%. A low concentration of 0.1 w/v% of the NF3 membrane was the most optimal high-performance membrane. The adsorption rate of NF3 for Pb(II) ions in real environmental wastewater is attributed to the tailored surface chemistry of the polyamide layered thin-film/PES-coreshell-Fe(3)O(4)/ZnO nanocomposites of the membranes. The maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity at the optimal pH = 5 was 8.8573 mg/g at 25 °C. The fabricated adsorptive nanofiltration membranes alleviated the presence of Pb(II) ions and other competing ions present in environmental wastewater.