Synergistic Role of Functionalized Chitosan Nanoparticles and Aliquat 336 in Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-co-Hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) Polymer Inclusion Membranes for High-Efficiency Gold(III) Transport

Synergistic Role of Functionalized Chitosan Nanoparticles and Aliquat 336 in Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-co-Hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) Polymer Inclusion Membranes for High-Efficiency Gold(III) Transport | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Synergistic Role of Functionalized Chitosan Nanoparticles and Aliquat 336 in Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-co-Hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) Polymer Inclusion Membranes for High-Efficiency Gold(III) Transport Cee Kee Lim, Noor Fazliani Binti Shoparwe, Kean Chong Lim, Nor Zafirah Binti Nor’azmind, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7431482/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Polymer Research → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The efficient recovery of gold from acidic aqueous solutions is vital for sustainable resource management and high-value metal recycling. In this work, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) incorporating chitosan (CS) nanoparticles (0–2.0 wt.%) and Aliquat 336 as the ionic carrier were fabricated via solvent casting and comprehensively characterized. FTIR analysis confirmed intermolecular interactions between CS and PVDF-HFP through hydrogen bonding, while SEM revealed that moderate CS loading (1.5 wt.%) enhanced surface roughness and pore uniformity, whereas excessive loading (2.0 wt.%) induced nanoparticle aggregation. Contact angle and water uptake measurements showed progressively improved hydrophilicity with CS incorporation, correlating with increased aqueous phase accessibility. Thermogravimetric analysis and Coats–Redfern modelling indicated a slight reduction in thermal stability and activation energy with increasing CS content, attributed to thermally unstable CS functional groups and disruption of PVDF-HFP crystallinity. Gold adsorption experiments analyzed by ICP-OES demonstrated consistently high removal efficiencies for all membranes, with a maximum of 99.92% at 2.0 wt.% CS. Kinetic analysis revealed excellent fitting of both pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) models (R 2 ≥ 0.981). The highest adsorption rate constants were observed at 1.5 wt.% CS, confirming rapid uptake dominated by a chemisorption mechanism. Overall, moderate CS incorporation (1.5 wt.%) provided the optimal balance between enhanced hydrophilicity, ion-binding capacity, and structural integrity, offering valuable insights for the design of sustainable, bio-based PIMs for efficient precious metal recovery. polymer inclusion membrane poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) chitosan gold adsorption Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Polymer Research → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 12 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 23 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7431482","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":515851672,"identity":"caf215c8-500f-491e-a8fb-62e7666395e8","order_by":0,"name":"Cee Kee Lim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cee","middleName":"Kee","lastName":"Lim","suffix":""},{"id":515851673,"identity":"d246928a-6d75-48dc-b350-876312093fdf","order_by":1,"name":"Noor Fazliani Binti 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In this work, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) incorporating chitosan (CS) nanoparticles (0\u0026ndash;2.0 wt.%) and Aliquat 336 as the ionic carrier were fabricated via solvent casting and comprehensively characterized. FTIR analysis confirmed intermolecular interactions between CS and PVDF-HFP through hydrogen bonding, while SEM revealed that moderate CS loading (1.5 wt.%) enhanced surface roughness and pore uniformity, whereas excessive loading (2.0 wt.%) induced nanoparticle aggregation. Contact angle and water uptake measurements showed progressively improved hydrophilicity with CS incorporation, correlating with increased aqueous phase accessibility. Thermogravimetric analysis and Coats\u0026ndash;Redfern modelling indicated a slight reduction in thermal stability and activation energy with increasing CS content, attributed to thermally unstable CS functional groups and disruption of PVDF-HFP crystallinity. Gold adsorption experiments analyzed by ICP-OES demonstrated consistently high removal efficiencies for all membranes, with a maximum of 99.92% at 2.0 wt.% CS. Kinetic analysis revealed excellent fitting of both pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) models (R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;0.981). The highest adsorption rate constants were observed at 1.5 wt.% CS, confirming rapid uptake dominated by a chemisorption mechanism. Overall, moderate CS incorporation (1.5 wt.%) provided the optimal balance between enhanced hydrophilicity, ion-binding capacity, and structural integrity, offering valuable insights for the design of sustainable, bio-based PIMs for efficient precious metal recovery.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Synergistic Role of Functionalized Chitosan Nanoparticles and Aliquat 336 in Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-co-Hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) Polymer Inclusion Membranes for High-Efficiency Gold(III) Transport","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-24 21:19:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7431482/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-09-22T06:19:14+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-16T09:54:11+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Journal of Polymer Research","date":"2025-09-12T15:39:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-25T01:01:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Polymer Research","date":"2025-08-23T05:33:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-polymer-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jpol","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Polymer Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/10965)","snPcode":"10965","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/jpol/","title":"Journal of Polymer Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"62964d73-877e-4744-8ecf-03de94d12f6a","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-30T16:23:22+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7431482","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-026-04841-6","journal":{"identity":"journal-of-polymer-research","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Journal of Polymer Research"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-26 16:10:27","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 26th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-24 21:19:30","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10965-026-04841-6","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-026-04841-6","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7431482","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7431482","identity":"rs-7431482","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}