Production of polymeric membranes based on activated carbons for wastewater treatment

Polymeric Membranes are a technological innovation for separation and filtration. They are composed of advanced materials, such as Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which imparts mechanical stability to the membrane and helps to prevent biofouling, along with a hydrophobic character that facilitates the coagulation phase, and the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) provides a hydrophilic nature, enhancing its affinity for the reaction medium and assisting in the filtration process. This structure allows the passage of substances through it while retaining larger particles and external contaminants, making selective filtration a differentiating factor in wastewater treatment. One strategy to further enhance the properties of these membranes is the incorporation of activated carbon during manufacturing. Activated carbon has a high surface area and adsorption capacity, making it effective in adsorbing different substances. This study aims to produce mixed polymeric membranes incorporating activated carbon, using PVDF and PVP as polymers and N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as the solvent. These membranes will be employed for the filtration of phenolic compounds, such as phenol. In a membrane with the formulation of 1.3g of PVP, 1.15g of PVDF, 8.8 ml of NMP, and 2.5g of activated carbon, with different thicknesses of 150 µm and 300 µm, approximately 56.77% and 90.35% of 50mg/l of phenol in a model wastewater were removed in 5 minutes, respectively, with breakthrough occurring in 15 minutes. Thus, it is possible to demonstrate the viability of using these membranes in the treatment of model wastewater containing phenolic compounds, where the 300 µm membrane showed better results, only requiring scaling up for practical application.