Effects of Fly Ash Loading on the Characteristics of PVC-based Cation Exchange Membranes for Reverse Electrodialysis
Corresponding email: heru.susanto@che.undip.ac.id
Published at : 21 Jul 2020
Volume : IJtech
Vol 11, No 3 (2020)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v11i3.3773
Susanto, H., Fahmi, Y., Hutami, A.T., Hadi, Y.T., 2020. Effects of Fly Ash Loading on the Characteristics of PVC-based Cation Exchange Membranes for Reverse Electrodialysis. International Journal of Technology. Volume 11(3), pp. 544-553
| Heru Susanto | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Indonesia 2. Membrane Research Center, Integrated Laboratory for R |
| Yunita Fahmi | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Indonesia 2. Membrane Research Center, Integrated Laboratory for R |
| Anisa Tri Hutami | Membrane Research Center, Integrated Laboratory for Research and Services, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Tembalang Semarang 50275, Indonesia |
| Yuliyanto Triyono Hadi | Membrane Research Center, Integrated Laboratory for Research and Services, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Tembalang Semarang 50275, Indonesia |
This study investigated the effects of fly ash loading on the
characteristics of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membranes for reverse
electrodialysis (RED). The membranes were prepared by adding different
concentrations of fly ash (0.5–2 wt%) to the casting solution. The surface
chemistry of the prepared membranes was analyzed using Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy. The swelling degree (SD) was used as an indicator of the
membranes’ water uptake. Titration using NaOH (0.01 M) was performed to measure
the membranes’ ion exchange capacity (IEC) and conductivity. The PVC membrane
with 2 wt% fly ash demonstrated the highest SD (83.78%), IEC (0.163 meq/g), and
conductivity (8.7×10?2 µS/cm).
The results show that the presence of fly ash significantly affects the
characteristics of PVC membranes for RED.
Cation exchange membrane; Fly ash; Reverse electrodialysis
Global energy scarcity has encouraged efforts to
create renewable and sustainable energy (Setiawan
et al., 2016). The use of such energy has also become crucial for the
prevention of environmental problems. Recently, membrane-based gradient
salinity has attracted considerable interest as a prospective renewable and
sustainable energy source (Logan and Elimelech, 2015;
NRC, 2015). Salinity gradient power can be defined as energy resulting
from the mixture of two fluids with different salt concentrations, such as
river water and seawater (Hong et al., 2015).
The process of power generated through controlled mixing of fresh and salt
water has not been explored as extensively as solar and wind power generation
or other sustainable power generation methods (Gilstrap,
2013).
There are two methods for salinity difference–based energy generation, namely pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis (RED). In the past few years, researchers have focused on investigating RED for the desalination of river water and seawater (Post and Veerman, 2007). In 1954, Pattle established RED principles, proving that energy can be produced by mixing river water and seawater. Over the last decade, many studies on RED for energy generation were reported (Avci et al., 2018; Mei and Tang, 2018; Moreno et al., 2018; Ciofalo et al., 2019; Mehdizadeh et al., 2019). Lacey (1980) showed that to optimize energy production, membranes with good selectivity and low resistance are required. Turek and Bandura (2007) reported that thin membranes with large contact areas can improve energy production efficiency by shortening the ion flow pathways. Thereafter, efforts to produce membranes for RED have been proposed (Guler and Nijmeijer, 2018; Luo et al., 2018).
Improving the characteristics of ion exchange
membranes through various modification techniques has received considerable
attention. Sulfonation and carboxylation aim to supply negative charges to ion
exchange membranes. Sulfonation is the most used method for the modification of
membranes used in water filtration, dialysis diffusion, electrodialysis, and
water cleavage. It is an electrophilic substitution process generally involving
aromatic rings and increases membrane charge density, hydrophilicity, and
conductivity. Sulfuric acid and chlorosulfate acid are commonly used as
sulfonating agents (Hong et al., 2015).
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a versatile thermoplastic
polymer that shows appropriate chemical and biological resistances for water
applications (Giwa et al., 2019). Inorganic
nanoparticles are frequently incorporated into polymeric membrane matrixes to
increase the membranes’ performance, including functionality and thermal,
chemical, and mechanical stability (Poerwadi et
al., 2020). Developments in ion
exchange membranes with the introduction of inorganic nanoparticles using
aluminum oxide (Hosseini et al., 2012),
titanium oxide (Nemati et al., 2015), and
iron oxide (Hong and Chen, 2014) have been
reported. However, most studies have used pure inorganic nanoparticles, which
are either expensive or must be previously synthesized. Numerous inorganic
nanoparticles are also available in nature, although their purity may be
relatively low. Incorporating such nanoparticles into polymeric membrane
matrixes is an interesting prospect.
Fly ash nanoparticles have attracted considerable
interest due to their unique properties, including low density and cost and
smooth spherical surfaces. More importantly, because fly ash is a coal
combustion residue from thermal power plants, its use can offer environmental
benefits. The main components of fly ash are oxides of silica, aluminum, iron,
and calcium (Janani et al., 2018). Jin et al. (2012) found that the addition of
nano-SiO2 in the skin layer improved thermal stability and
hydrophilicity and enhanced the nanofiltration membrane’s permeation properties
without rejection rate loss.
To the best of our knowledge, there is no research
into the utilization of fly ash for fabricating ion exchange membranes.
Therefore, this work aimed to study the effects of fly ash loading on the
characteristics of membranes for RED. It was hypothesized that the presence of
fly ash would improve the membranes’ ion exchange characteristics.
The composition of
the polymer solution significantly influenced the membranes’ properties.
Membranes prepared with 2 wt% fly ash content showed the highest SD, IEC, and
conductivity. It can thus be concluded that the addition and content of fly ash
to PVC membrane solutions significantly affects the characteristics of PVC
membranes for RED.
The authors thank
the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education of the Republic of
Indonesia (grant number 101-162/UN7.P4.3/PP/2019) for funding this research.
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