Fabrication of Loose Nanofiltration Membrane by Crosslinking TEMPO-Oxidized Cellulose Nanofibers for Effective Dye/Salt Separation

Dye/salt separation has gained increasing attention in recent years, prompting the quest to find cost-effective and environmentally friendly raw materials for synthesizing high performance nanofiltration (NF) membrane for effective dye/salt separation. Herein, a high-performance loose-structured NF membrane was fabricated via a simple vacuum filtration method using a green nanomaterial, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxide radical (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCNF), by sequentially filtrating larger-sized and finer-sized TOCNFs on a microporous substrate, followed by crosslinking with trimesoyl chloride. The resulting TCM membrane possessed a separating layer composed entirely of pure TOCNF, eliminating the need for other polymer or nanomaterial additives. TCM membranes exhibit high performance and effective dye/salt selectivity. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis shows that the TCM membrane with the Fine-TOCNF layer has a tight layered structure. Further characterizations via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of functional groups and chemical bonds of the crosslinked membrane. Notably, the optimized TCM-5 membrane exhibits a rejection rate of over 99% for various dyes (Congo red and orange yellow) and 14.2% for NaCl, showcasing a potential candidate for efficient dye wastewater treatment.