PREPARATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE FO MEMBRANES BY USING RECYCLED CIGARETTE BUTTS AS SUPPORTING LAYER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33795/distilat.v12i3.9843Keywords:
cigarette butts, cellulose acetate, electrospinning, forward osmosis, ZIF-8Abstract
Cigarette butts (CBs), mainly composed of cellulose acetate, are one of the most common and persistent forms of waste, posing significant enviromental risks due to their non-biodegradable nature and toxic leachates. At the same time, CBs represent a potential low-cost and sustainable resource for advanced material development. In this work, we aimed to enhance membrane performance by fabricating forward osmosis (FO) membranes through the recycling of CBs into nanofiber supports via electrospinning, followed by modification with ZIF-8 and a polyamide (PA) active layer. Structural and chemical characterizations revealed that CB-based membranes possessed superior fibrous morphology and fuctional groups suitable for ZIF-8 incorporation compared to pure cellulose acetate membranes. The optimized composition (CB:CA 1:4) achieved a high water flux of 24.93 LMH and a reverse salt flux of 3.23 gMH under FO operation using distilled water as the feed solution and 1 M NaCl as the draw solution. The addition of ZIF-8 enhanced hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance, mitigated internal concentration polarization, and improved overall selectivity, while the PA layer provided additional fouling resistance and stability. These result indicate that combining recycled CBs with advanced nanomaterials can significantly enhance FO membrane perfomance. Beyond technical improvements, this study offers an environmentally beneficial approach by transforming hazardous waste into functional materials for clean water production, supporting both sustainable waste management and low-energy water treatment technologies.
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