• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.507-520
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• 2016

The effect of ZnO on cellulose acetate in the removal of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) was investigated. The benzophenone-3 (BP-3) which is an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) was completely removed (100%) from the drinking water using Cellulose Acetate (CA) and zinc oxide (ZnO) composite membranes. The membranes were prepared by DIPS method and the filtration experiments were conducted by dead end filtration unit. The macrostructure of the membrane were studied by ATR-IR and XRD Spectra's. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study the micro properties of the membranes. The laboratory experiments such as water uptake study and pure water flux performed to confirm the increasing hydrophilicity. The enhancing hydrophilicity was confirmed with respect to higher the concentration of nanoparticles. Evaluation of BP-3 removal was carried in different experimental conditions, such as, different Trans membrane pressure and different concentration of feed. The membrane with low pressure showed better performance by rejecting 100% of BP-3. However, 1 ppm, 3 ppm and 6 ppm of feed solution was used and among them 3 ppm of feed solution gives 100% rejection. The ZnO nanoparticales enhances the performance of CA membrane by showing maximum rejection.