Preparation of a novel modified ceramic membrane for removal of nickel ions from aqueous phase

A novel modified ceramic membrane (CM-SiO2-A) has been prepared with the depositing and grafting technologies for removal of Ni2+ from aqueous solutions. Firstly, the silica was deposited onto the surface of initial ceramic membrane (CM) by using the in situ hydrolysis deposition method and activated to obtain the silanol groups. Then, 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethylamino]propyl-trimethoxysilane was grafted onto the silica layer to obtain the CM-SiO2-A. The CM-SiO2-A was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Further, the change of water flux and separation of Ni2+ were studied by using the modified membrane. Results showed that the water flux of CM-SiO2-A was decreased by 84.79% compared with the CM. The CM-SiO2-A had a much higher total rejection rate of Ni2+ (77.24%) than that of the un-grafted membrane (1.02%) at initial Ni(2+)concentration of 10mg/L and exhibits the potential for separation of low concentration of Ni2+ from aqueous solutions. Copyright (c) 2015 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.