TEHRAN -- Iranian researchers have developed a method based on electrospun nanomembranes to remove oil and petroleum pollutants from wastewater which can help reduce environmental pollution.
“Among the various water purification methods, membrane filtration technology has gradually attracted more attention due to its many features, including low energy consumption, ease of operation, low space requirement, high removal efficiency, and lower operating costs,” said Muhammad Reza Shakiba, a PhD graduate of Amirkabir University of Technology.
“Membrane filtration separates pollutants from water based on membrane pore size and particle size. The pollutant is removed from one side of the membrane and the purified solution from the other side. In the filtration mechanism, membranes act as a barrier between two phases in the filtration process, allowing chemicals to selectively move from one side to the other,” he added.
“During filtration, the water pressure and pollutant removal rate are greatly affected by the wettability of the membrane surface, which includes hydrophobic, hydrophilic and smart surfaces with variable wettability, and electrospun membranes with selective superhydrophilic or hydrophobic properties can be produced by changing the geometrical and chemical structure of the membrane surface,” Shakiba said.
Last year, researchers at an Iranian company produced ceramic nanomembranes with application in purification of water from microbes.
The ceramic nanomembranes produced by the company can produce healthy drinking water free from any microbial contamination.