Ming Gong

Alkali recovery using PVA/SiO2 cation exchange membranes with different -COOH contents.

By changing -COOH content in poly(acrylic acid-co-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane (poly(AA-co-γ-MPS)), a series of PVA/SiO(2) cation exchange membranes are prepared from sol-gel process of poly(AA-co-γ-MPS) in presence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The membranes have the initial decomposition temperature (IDT) values of 236-274 °C. The tensile strength (TS) ranges from 17.4 MPa to 44.4 MPa. The dimensional stability in length (DS-length) is in the range of 10%-25%, and the DS-area is in the range of 21%-56% in 65 °C water. The water content (W(R)) ranges from 61.2% to 81.7%, the ion exchange capacity (IEC) ranges from 1.69 mmol/g to 1.90 mmol/g. Effects of -COOH content on diffusion dialysis (DD) performance also are investigated for their potential applications. The membranes are tested for recovering NaOH from the mixture of NaOH/Na(2)WO(4) at 25 - 45 °C. The dialysis coefficients of NaOH (U(OH)) are in the range of 0.006-0.032 m/h, which are higher than those of the previous membranes (U(OH): 0.0015 m/h, at 25 °C). The selectivity (S) can reach up to 36.2. The DD performances have been correlated with the membrane structure, especially the continuous arrangement of -COOH in poly(AA-co-γ-MPS) chain.

Guanidylated hollow fiber membranes based on brominated poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) for gold sorption from acid solutions.

Novel guanidylated hollow fiber membranes are prepared based on brominated poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) under mild reaction conditions. 1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamidine hydrochloride (HPCA) is employed for the guanidylation in aqueous solution at room temperature. The obtained guanidylated PPO hollow fiber membranes (GPPO HFMs) contain 0.31-0.95 mmol/g guanidyl groups and show high affinity to tetrachloroauric anions (AuCl(4)(-)) in acid solutions. For 0.1M HCl solution containing 57.8 mg gold/L, the sorption amount can get as high as 130 mg/g. Besides, the GPPO HFMs show preferable selectivity toward gold in multicomponent solution containing Mg(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Pb(II). A system of comparison experiments involving the sorption behavior of GPPO HFMs and quaternary aminated HFMs are also performed. The results reveal that driving forces for the high adsorption of gold mainly involve complexation mechanism. Overall, the obtained GPPO HFM is a promising chelating material for the recovery of gold.