S. Oukkass, I. Mourtah, R. Ouchn, I. Mechnou, I. El Yaakouby, N. Kamil, M. Hlaïbi
Hassan II University of Casablanca Aïn Chock Faculty of Sciences, Laboratory GeMEV,
Morocco
Keywords: methylene blue, polymer inclusion membrane, permeability, apparent diffusion coefficient, activation parameters, activated carbon
Summary:
Methylene blue is a commonly used cationic dye, especially in the dyeing of cotton, wood, silk, and paper. The treatment of industrial wastewater containing similar dyes presents a major environmental concern. Different physical, chemical and biological processes have been developed and tested for the treatment of effluents loaded with these emerging pollutants. Especially techniques such as coagulation-flocculation, advanced oxidation processes, etc., which are limited and often generate polluting by-products. Activated membrane processes, simple, effective and environmentally friendly, have been adopted to respond to this challenge. In our study, we focused on the development of two polymer inclusion membranes for the treatment and recovery of methylene blue (MB). After characterization of elaborated membranes, we conducted experiments relating to the extraction and recovery processes of MB substrate, without and in the presence of activated carbon. Several parameters, permeability (P), initial flux (J0), association constant (Kass) and apparent diffusion coefficient (D*) were determined in order to quantify the membrane performances and elucidate the mechanism of studied processes. All values of activation parameters, energy (Ea), association enthalpy (ΔH#ass), dissociation enthalpy (ΔH#diss), and entropy (ΔS#), confirm the experimental results and allow to elucidate the energetic and kinetic aspects that control the mechanisms of performed processes. The association of activated carbon with membrane processes in receiving phase is an original operation well suited to significantly improve performance, without any influence on the composition of the membrane. Also an evolution towards a very favorable kinetic control for the processes carried out, confirms the results and indicates the importance of this new intensification method (Table and Figure).