Abstract:
Water poisoning with arsenic is getting worse all across the world because of its serious
health hazards and carcinogenic nature. With the growing population of Pakistan, Its
concentration level is increasing. In order to meet the WHO standards for safe drinking
water, a productive method is required for removing arsenic from water sources. In this
study, iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with Cellulose Acetate (CA) as a polymer and
Tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a solvent have been utilized in mixed matrix membrane
(MMM) for efficient removal of arsenic from water. CA/Fe3O4 based MMMs are
fabricated by utilizing the phase inversion method. Concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles
in membranes ranges from 0-2 wt. %. Several instrumentation techniques such as
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), X-Ray
Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transfrom Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed
to characterize Fe3O4 nanoparticles and fabricated membranes. Membrane perfromance is
analyzed using water content, contact angle and porosity measurements. Both the pristine
membrane and the fabricated Fe3O4 incorporated mixed matrix membranes exhibited
prominent improvement in pure water flux and hydrophilicity with an addition in
nanoparticles up to 2 wt. % loading. For removal of arsenic, dead end filtration experiment
perfromed and obtained water samples got tested using Atomic Adsorption
Spectrophotometer (AAS) for the determination of arsenic concentration in it. It was found
that maximum 85 % of arsenic removal efficiency was obtained with 2 wt % of Fe3O4 in
CA membranes. The nanoparticles contained membranes show greater removal efficiency
and water flux than pristine CA membrane.
