Nanostructured Membranes for Water Application

The growing need for freshwater has lead to the water crisis we face today. Research into water purification to increase the availability of freshwater for various industrial needs and potable use has become focused on polymeric membranes. Polymeric membranes are flexible and have desirable properties for the purification of water and desalination. Incentives for researching interactive membrane filters are lower cost and lower energy consumption compared to traditional membranes. Polymer membranes also reduce the amount of contamination due to lower rates of degradation and chemically inert materials. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes functionalized with polyacrylic acid (PAA) hydrogels, networks of crosslinked polymer chains, were used to remove heavy metal ions from a water source. Pretreated with Na⁺ ions PVDF-PAA membranes were loaded with Pb²⁺ and Ca²⁺ in ion exchange experiments.