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Synthesis of ethyl cellulose/aluminosilicate zeolite nanofibrous membranes for oil–water separation and oil absorption

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Abstract

ZSM-5 (Seolite Sconoy Mobil) aluminosilicate zeolites synthesized by the hydrothermal method were incorporated into the hydrophobic ethyl cellulose (EC) nanofibrous membrane. The performance of synthesized nanofibers was investigated for a gravity driven oil–water separation. The synthesized ZSM-5 nanozeolites and EC/ZSM-5 composite nanofibers were characterized using XRD, FESEM, XPS, FTIR and AFM analysis. The permeability of EC/ZSM-5 5 wt% for oil in water mixture was in order of n-hexane (5170 ± 60 L/m2 h) > n-heptane (4600 ± 50 L/m2 h) > cyclohexane (4350 ± 35 L/m2 h) > pump oil (3780 ± 28 L/m2 h) > lubricating oil (3200 ± 25 L/m2 h) > motor oil (2980 ± 20 L/m2 h) with a separation efficiency higher than 99.90% for the studied oil/water mixtures separation. The potential of nanofibers toward oil absorption from oil/water mixtures was also investigated for 7 cycles of absorption process. The absorption capacity was found to be 525.6, 423.4 and 198.3 g/g for motor oil, cyclohexane and n-heptane using EC/ZSM-5 nanofibers. The obtained results revealed that ZSM-5 loaded-EC nanofibrous membranes can be used as efficient membranes for oil/water separation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

    Shahnaz Koushkbaghi

  2. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Sana Jamshidifard

  3. Faculty of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

    Abolfazl ZabihiSahebi

  4. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

    Aliasghar Abouchenari

  5. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Meisam Darabi

  6. Young Researchers and Elite Club, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Irani

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  1. Shahnaz Koushkbaghi
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  2. Sana Jamshidifard
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  3. Abolfazl ZabihiSahebi
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  4. Aliasghar Abouchenari
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Koushkbaghi, S., Jamshidifard, S., ZabihiSahebi, A. et al. Synthesis of ethyl cellulose/aluminosilicate zeolite nanofibrous membranes for oil–water separation and oil absorption. Cellulose 26, 9787–9801 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02738-w

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