1. UKM Learning and Research Repository
2. PHD Thesis / Tesis PHD
3. Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

Title:	Graphene oxide/carbon nanotubes conductive membrane with active antifouling properties
Authors:	Ho Kah Chun (P84915)
Supervisor:	Teow Yeit Haan, Dr.
Keywords:	Membranes (Biology) -- Mechanical properties Palm oil Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations
Issue Date:	25-Jun-2019
Description:	Membrane fouling is one of the major obstacles that hampers the application of membrane for conventional palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment. Active fouling mitigation by introducing electricity across conductive membrane can suppress membrane fouling by enhancing the repulsive force between negative charge organic foulants and the membrane surface. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were incorporated as nanofillers into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer to produce conductive membrane via the in-situ colloidal precipitation and direct blending methods. The presence of nanomaterials in GO/OMWCNTs membrane matrix had reduced the membrane surface roughness and formed a negative charge repulsive boundary which eventually enhanced the membrane's passive antifouling properties. Further investigations revealed that blending method with 1:9 ratio of GO to MWCNTs and 1:10 ratio of polymer to solvent produced GO/MWCNTs membrane with optimal conductivity which was suitable for active fouling mitigation. Generally, permeate flux decline was lessened with the application of electricity across the synthesised GO/MWCNTs membranes. The presence of electric field across GO/MWCNTs membranes exerted strong repulsion force to repel the organic foulants from attaching on the membrane surface thus reducing the potential of membrane pore blockage. GO/MWCNTs membranes blended with 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 20 wt% GO/MWCNTs nanomaterials successfully improved the normalised flux by 108.14%, 90.54%, and 89.69%, respectively, with the application of continuous electricity at 300 V/cm along the membrane filtration process. Response surface methodology (RSM) was further employed to optimise the formulation of the synthesised GO/MWCNTs membrane and the operation mode of the membrane filtration process. The optimised GO/MWCNTs membrane formulation was found at the dosing of 4.22 wt% GO/MWCNTs nanomaterials; while the optimum membrane filtration process was obtained with the application of 300 V/cm electricity for 6 minutes in every 32 minutes filtration. Based on cost analysis, continuous electricity mode was the preferable operating condition as it produced more permeate volume by 28.05% compared to the intermittent electricity mode at the same operating cost (RM 0.32/L). This study indicated that application of GO/MWCNTs membrane for active fouling mitigation was promising for POME treatment.,Ph.D.
Pages:	214
Call Number:	TP684.P3H635 2019 3 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.