Removal Efficiency of Sulfapyridine from Contaminated Surface Water by Carboxylated Graphene Oxide Blended PVDF Composite Ultrafiltration Membrane with Activated Carbon

Abstract

In this study, sulfapyridine (SPY), an antibiotic that is less commonly treated by membrane filtration techniques but is frequently detected in the aqueous environment and at higher concentrations than other detected antibiotics, was selected for investigation. A composite ultrafiltration membrane for the removal of sulfapyridine (SPY) antibiotics from water was fabricated using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and carboxyl-functionalized graphene oxide (CFGO) as additives. The changes in retention rate and pure water flux of sulfapyridine by the composite ultrafiltration membrane were investigated by changing the ratios of the prepared ultrafiltration membrane materials under the conditions of low-pressure operation to explore the optimal experimental conditions. The results showed that the addition of PVP and CFGO significantly increased the number of membrane pores and their pore size. The addition of CFGO in the membrane significantly improved the hydrophilicity of the membrane. The contact angle decreased from 83.7 to 31.6°. Compared to ordinary PVDF ultrafiltration membranes, the membrane’s pure water flux increased nearly three times to 2612.95 L/(m2·h). The removal rate of SPY was 56.26% under the optimal conditions. When the composite ultrafiltration membrane was combined with activated carbon, the removal rate of SPY was 92.67%, which was nine times higher than that of activated carbon alone. At this time, the flux of the composite membrane was 2610.23 L/(m2·h). This study proposes a simple, efficient, and low production cost solution for the removal of sulfapyridine from water.