title: Dye removal by surfactant encapsulated polyoxometalates.
abstract: A novel surfactant encapsulated polyoxometalate (SEP) has been synthesized by using a simple ion-exchange reaction. The prepared SEP complex was found to self-assemble into nanospherical particles whose morphology and component were characterized by TEM and XPS. The SEP was further incorporated into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to fabricate SEP incorporated composite membrane (SEP-M). Both the SEP and SEP-M exhibited excellent dye removal activities, which is for the first time reported as an intriguing property of the SEP. A regeneration scheme for SEP-M was successfully proposed without any loss of dye removal efficiency. Detailed mechanism studies were carried out to elucidate the nature of dye decolorization. Ion exchange was revealed to play a dominant role in the dye removal process. The current research not only renders a new example for the simple and direct synthesis of SEP but more importantly provides an efficient dye removal methodology.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore; Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Shun Kuang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lua
authors.affiliation: Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Lizhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore 637141, Singapore. Electronic address: rwang@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore. Electronic address: zldong@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: ZhiLi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D054118:Nanospheres; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D017973:Tungsten Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification; D000099294:Polyoxometalates
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D017973:Tungsten Compounds; C102296:polyoxometalate I; D000099294:Polyoxometalates
keywords: Adsorption; Dye removal; Membrane; Polyoxometalate; Polyvinylidene fluoride