Adsorption performance of eco-friendly thin film polymer nanocomposite membrane for effective removal of cationic dye

Abstract Textile industries are one of the leading environmental pollutants, releasing harmful dye effluents. In many textile districts, the amount of excess color in treated textile effluent that exceeds regulatory limitations is still a major concern. The combining usage of nanomaterials and polymer material to solve these issues using various techniques. In this research, Graphene oxide - Copper Oxide (GO-CuO) nanomaterial incorporated into cellulose-acetate (CA), poly-ether sulfone (PES) blend polymer by using phase inversion process to fabricate thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane for removal of dye pollutant. The physiochemical properties of prepared TFN materials were studied by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, AFM, TGA and mechanical strength analysis. Dye adsorption experiments performed with four typical water-soluble organic dyes methylene blue (MB), rhodamine blue (Rh. B), methyl orange (MO) and Congo red (CR). As a result, the fabricated TFN material it was proven as most effective adsorbent material for cationic dye molecules. Also, when the fabricated material was tested to a textile industry effluent sample, all physio-chemical properties exhibited a considerable decrease in concentrations when compared to the real textile effluent concentration. The treated effluents permitted for a relatively greater growth and germination index of Tropical amaranth roots than the textile effluent, demonstrating that phytotoxicity testing was also successful. The most effective temperature, concentration and pH were found to be 273K, 1×10− 5 M and pH-9. The fabricated TFN membrane material (GO-CuO @ CA-PES) can be recommended for water treatment applications.