Tailor Made Thin Film Composite Membranes: Potentiality Towards Removal of Hydroquinone from Water

Abstract

The study investigated the use of thin film composite membrane (TFC) as a potential candidate for hydroquinone removal from water. Thin film composite membranes were prepared by polyamide coating on Polysulfone asymmetric membrane. FTIR study was performed to verify the Polysulfone as well as polyamide functionality. TFC membrane was characterized by contact angle, zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy studies. The salt rejection trend was seen from 500 to 1000 mg/L. The membrane is marked by permeability co-efficient B based on solution diffusion studies. The value is 0.98 × 10−6 m/s for NaCl solution at 1.4 MPa. The separation performance was 88.87% for 5 mg/L hydroquinone at 1.4 MPa. The separation was little bit lowered in acid medium because of the nature of the membrane and feed solute chemistry. The ‘pore swelling’ and ‘salting out’ influenced hydroquinone separation in the presence of NaCl. The hydroquinone separation was 80.63% in 1000 mg/L NaCl solution. In acidic pH, NaCl separation was influenced much more compared to hydroquinone. The separation is influenced by field water matrix.

Full text

1 23
Journal of Polymers and the
Environment
formerly: `Journal of Environmental
Polymer Degradation'
ISSN 1566-2543
J Polym Environ
DOI 10.1007/s10924-016-0887-z
Tailor Made Thin Film Composite
Membranes: Potentiality Towards Removal
of Hydroquinone from Water
Richa Modi, Romil Mehta,
H.Brahmbhatt & A.Bhattacharya

1 23
Your article is protected by copyright and all
rights are held exclusively by Springer Science
+Business Media New York. This e-offprint is
for personal use only and shall not be self-
archived in electronic repositories. If you wish
to self-archive your article, please use the
accepted manuscript version for posting on
your own website. You may further deposit
the accepted manuscript version in any
repository, provided it is only made publicly
available 12 months after official publication
or later and provided acknowledgement is
given to the original source of publication
and a link is inserted to the published article
on Springer's website. The link must be
accompanied by the following text: "The final
publication is available at link.springer.com”.

ORIGINAL PAPER
Tailor Made Thin Film Composite Membranes: Potentiality
Towards Removal of Hydroquinone from Water
Richa Modi
1
•Romil Mehta
1
•H. Brahmbhatt
2
•A. Bhattacharya
1
ÓSpringer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract The study investigated the use of thin film
composite membrane (TFC) as a potential candidate for
hydroquinone removal from water. Thin film composite
membranes were prepared by polyamide coating on Poly-
sulfone asymmetric membrane. FTIR study was performed
to verify the Polysulfone as well as polyamide function-
ality. TFC membrane was characterized by contact angle,
zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy studies. The
salt rejection trend was seen from 500 to 1000 mg/L. The
membrane is marked by permeability co-efficient B based
on solution diffusion studies. The value is 0.98 910
-6
m/s
for NaCl solution at 1.4 MPa. The separation performance
was 88.87% for 5 mg/L hydroquinone at 1.4 MPa. The
separation was little bit lowered in acid medium because of
the nature of the membrane and feed solute chemistry. The
‘pore swelling’ and ‘salting out’ influenced hydroquinone
separation in the presence of NaCl. The hydroquinone
separation was 80.63% in 1000 mg/L NaCl solution. In
acidic pH, NaCl separation was influenced much more
compared to hydroquinone. The separation is influenced by
field water matrix.
Keywords Thin film composite membrane Permeability
co-efficient Hydroquinone Water Sodium chloride
Introduction
It is well understood replenishable fresh water is increas-
ingly becoming a scarce natural resource. There is a way
out of this imbroglio. The strategy, ‘water reuse’ is a
simple strategy to counter this. The basic mechanistic
pathway of most of the methods is ‘separation science’ and
glittered with ‘Membranes’.
The relatively simple operational process, almost mini-
mum requirement of chemicals, without the change of phase
or state of the solvent as well as possible use for bulk
requirement makes the membrane processes are appealing
[1]. It has already been noticed that purified effluent from the
membrane process can be reused, whereas the waste stream
can be confined in concentrated and reduced in volume [2].
The breadth of membranes available for different sep-
aration has continued to grow since few decades. The
membrane research is a dynamic one that moves forward
slowly. In this dynamic membrane research ‘thin film
composite’ is a milestone [3]. The thin film composite
membrane is actually produced by preparation of porous
asymmetric sub layer which is laminated by coating using
different techniques (viz. Dip-coating, in situ polymeriza-
tion, interfacial polymerization) [4,5]. Mostly used inter-
facial polymerization technique involves the reaction
between diamine and acyl halide on the sublayer. The thin
polyamide layer controls selectivity whereas the asym-
metric porous sublayer acts as a support.
The separation mechanism of thin film composite mem-
branes depends not only on sieving, also on membrane solute
interactions. It depends on membrane properties (pore size,
&A. Bhattacharya
bhattacharyaamit1@rediffmail.com
1
Reverse Osmosis Division, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine
Chemicals Research Institute (CSIR-CSMCRI), Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), G. B. Marg,
Bhavnagar, Gujarat 364 002, India
2
Analytical Division and Centralized Instrument Facility,
CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute
(CSIR-CSMCRI), Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar, Gujarat 364 002,
India
123
J Polym Environ
DOI 10.1007/s10924-016-0887-z
Author's personal copy

charge) as well as feed solute properties (viz. size, dipole
moment, partition co-efficient, dissociation constant) [6].
In this regard, we have chosen hydroquinone as model
solute for its toxic nature. Hydroquinone (1,4 dihydroxy
benzene, Mol. Wt. 110.11) has a high BOD (biological
oxygen demand) and can cause oxygen depletion in aqueous
system. The hydroquinone contamination can arise from
photographic applications, coal tar productions, rubber
industry, paper industry, dyes and pigments, agricultural
chemicals, polymer industry even in cigarette smoke [7].
It is reported that final concentration \0.005 mg/L does
not cause adverse environmental effects. Direct contact of
hydroquinone dust and quinone vapor with the eye may
cause irritation. It affects the visual acuity and even
blindness. It is considered cytotoxic (toxic to cells) and
mutagenic [8]. Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MOEF), India and United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA), US has taken the initiative to mark
phenols and associated compounds as priority pollutants.
According to MOEF, India the concentration of phenols
should be below 1 mg/L for the discharge in surface water
and 5 mg/L for the discharge into the public sewers, irri-
gation land and marine coastal region [9].
Various techniques viz. adsorption [10–13], biodegra-
dation [14], anodic oxidation [15,16], photocatalytic
degradation [17], electrocoagulation [18] techniques are
employed to remove hydroquinone from water. Adsorption
technique has gained attention most. But it also suffers
limitation. As the saturation occurs quickly it requires
frequent replacement. It is cost-ineffective and impractical
also. On the other hand membrane can have the ability to
work with bulk volume without addition of any chemicals.
This paper presents the potentiality of pressure driven
TFC membrane for the separation of hydroquinone from
water. Most of the commercial membranes are not marked
with their compositions by their manufacturers. Thus, it is
difficult to correlate with the chemistry and performance of
the thin film composite membrane. The tailor-made TFC
membrane preparation is an art and thus drives us. It
describes the permeability co-efficient of NaCl through the
TFC membrane based on solution diffusion studies. The
separation behavior depending on pH also been studied.
The effect of sodium chloride (in low extent) in hydro-
quinone separation in neutral and acidic pH medium is also
studied. The separation performance of hydrquinone is also
carried out in field water matrix.
Materials and Methods
Polysulfone (Udel P-3500, Solvay Advanced Polymers,
USA), polyester fabric (Filtration Sciences Corporation,
USA) was taken in the preparation of support membrane
for polyamide. The following reagents 1,3-phenylene dia-
mine (Across, USA) and 1,3,5, trimesoyl chloride (Sigma-
Aldrich, USA) were used for polyamide formation. N,N-
Dimethyl formamide (Loba, India), hexane (Loba, India),
hydroquinone (SRL, India), Sodium chloride (CDH, India)
was used. Polyethylene oxide (PEO 100, 200 kDa, Sigma-
Aldrich, USA) was used as the macromolecule markers for
the membrane molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) deter-
mination. Deionized water was used throughout the
experiment.
Preparation of Thin Film Composite Membrane
Polysulfone support layers fabricated on a non-woven
polyester fabric by wet phase separation using 15% (w/w)
Polysulfone solution in N,N-dimethylformamide.
First Polysulfone asymmetric membrane was dipped
into m-phenylene diamine (2% w/v, aqueous) solution.
Then it was dipped in trimesoyl chloride (0.1% w/v, hex-
ane) solution. The polyamide active layer was formed
through interfacial polymerization in water-hexane layer.
The membrane was cured at 80 °C for 2 min to form the
polyamide network. The thin film composite membrane
was thoroughly washed with water after 24 h before car-
rying out performance evaluation experiments.
Preparation of Feed Solution
Hydroquinone (5 mg/L) was dissolved in water. Sodium
chloride was prepared 500, 800, 1000 mg/L in water.
Membrane separation performances of salts as well as
hydroquinone were determined by conductivity and HPLC
technique respectively. The hydroquinone separation per-
formances were performed in different pH (3.5 and 6.4).
The performance in acidic pH is interesting to study
because of the chemistry of hydroquinone. Hydroquinone
is not stable in alkaline solution instantly as it was reported
earlier [8]. That’s why separation performances of hydro-
quinone were avoided in alkaline condition. Deionized
water was used in the experiment. Moreover, our attempt to
separate hydroquinone from field water collected from a
nearby village.
Analytical Methods
FTIR-ATR, Agilent Technologies, Carry 600 Series was
used for the analysis of chemical structures of the mem-
branes. DSA 100, KRUSS, Germany (using the sessile drop
method) was used for the contact angle measurement of the
membranes at 25 °C. Electro kinetic analysis (Zeta-CAD,
France (version 1.04) based on streaming potential method
using flat sheet’s of the membrane material in a
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy

commercial plate taking 1 mM KCl as background elec-
trolyte was used for the zeta potential (f) measurement.
X-ray diffractometer (PANalytical Empyrean), Cu K a
radiation as monochromator was used to prove the changes
the relative amorphous character for the respective mem-
branes. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of
the samples were taken using JSM-7100 F.
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (Shimadzu
HPLC Prominence model with Detector: RF 10A
XL
)
studies were used to determine the concentrations of
hydroquinone. The conditions employed for the estimation
viz. C18H (enable) 150 mm 94.6 mm 95lm, mobile
phase acetonitrile/water (60:40) with 0.2% Formic acid)
(containing 0.3% acetic acid, flow 1.0 mL/min, tempera-
ture 30 °C, injection volume: 3 lL). The software (LC
solution) was used in this chromatography study.
Gel Permeation Chromatography (HPLC-GPC, water
Alliance-2695 separation module, with waters 2414RI
detector) was used to determine the concentrations of
macromolecule Polyethylene oxide (PEO 100 and
200 kDa). The following conditions were employed col-
umn-ultrahydrogel 120, mobile phase 0.2 mol of NaNO
3
in
water, flow 0.8 mL/min, temperature 30 °C, and injection
volume: 60 lL.
The ion concentration of field water was measured by
Inductive Couple plasma (ICP) instrument, Perkin Elmer,
Optima 2000DV. The total organic carbon (TOC) was
estimated by Liqui TOC, Elementar, Germany.
Separation Performances
Separation performances were monitored by cross-flow
filtration technique. New membrane coupons were used for
each experiment. The effective membrane area was
0.00152 m
2
for this particular cross-flow filtration unit. In
all the experiments applied pressure was 1.4 MPa. The
arrangement was depicted in our previous study [19]. The
water flux for the particular membrane is 17.02 LMH.
For macromolecules separation (PEO) dead-end filtra-
tion (Millipore) technique was used. The following equa-
tions are employed in separation studies.
Mathematical Equations
Volume flux Jw
ðÞ¼ VolðLÞ
timeðhÞareaðm2Þð1Þ
Solute flux;ðJsÞ¼Conc:in permeateðCpÞ
Volume fluxðJwÞð2Þ
Rejection;Rð%Þ¼ 1Cp
Cf

100 ð3Þ
Results and Discussion
The keys for the preparation of thin film composite mem-
brane are wet phase separation technique during the
preparation of asymmetric Polysulfone membrane and
interfacial polymerization reaction of diamine and trime-
soyl chloride during the formation of polyamide on the
asymmetric Polysulfone membrane. During the wet phase
separation technique, there is a diffusion exchange of
Polysulfone in dimethyl formamide (solvent for Polysul-
fone) and water (non-solvent for Polysulfone). It is obvious
that during the diffusion exchange the Gibb’s free energy
of mixing lowers [20–23]. The diffusion exchange insti-
gates the formation of asymmetric structure in the Poly-
sulfone matrix [24,25]. The characteristic parameter
(molecular weight cut off) of the membranes is 100 KDa.
The thickness of Polysulfone base membrane is *35 lm
on the non-woven polyester fabric *100 lm. The 1,3-
phenylene diamine adsorption on the Polysulfone may be
due to the chemical nature of sulfoxide and upper thin layer
supported by porous asymmetric nature beneath of it. The
thickness of the polyamide layer is *1lm.
Figure 1shows the analysis of ATR-FTIR spectra. In
the spectra of (a) Polysulfone membrane, the strong
reflectance at 1586–1400 cm
-1
is related to the benzene
ring stretching mode. The sulfone band is observed in
1152 cm
-1
. Asymmetric C–O stretching frequencies occur
in 1324 and 1239 cm
-1
.
In Fig. 1b the 1648 cm
-1
peak is observed because of
the C=O stretching polyamide structure, the C–N stretching
at 1546 cm
-1
and amide (polyamide peak at 786 cm
-1
shows the presence of Polyamide (cross-linked) structure
of the thin film composite (TFC) membrane. In other
words, FTIR-ATR studies prove the polyamide structure
on the Polysulfone membrane, reinforced with non-woven
polyester fabric.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
Transmission (%)
4000350030002500200015001000500
wavenumber, cm
-1
a
b
Fig. 1 FTIR-ATR spectra of Polysulfone (a) and thin film polyamide
composite (b) membranes
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy

The contact angle study shows that Polysulfone is
hydrophobic in character (having contact angle
74.12°±2.72°) whereas the thin film composite mem-
brane is hydrophilic one having contact angle
60.32°±2.64°. It suggests that polyamide coating makes
the membrane hydrophilic one due to its –CONH– and –
COOH functionalities. The –CONH– functionality arises
from the reaction of –NH
2
(from 1,3-phenylene diamine)
and –COCl (from 1,3,5 trimesoyl chloride) whereas –
COOH comes from the hydrolysis of –COCl (of 1,3,5
trimesoyl chloride). Due to the –COOH functionality the
TFC membrane shows charge on it which reflects from the
behavior of zeta potential studies. The membrane shows
negatively charged in normal condition (i.e. at pH 6). The
behavior of the membranes is pH responsive and reflected
from zeta potential behavior (Fig. 2). It shows positive in
low pH, whereas with the increase in pH the negative value
increases. It is a more negative charge in character in
alkaline pH.
Figure 3a, b shows that surface micrographs of Poly-
sulfone and thin film composite membranes. The micro-
graph of Polysulfone (a) is quite smooth in character where
as for thin film composite there are rough patches on the
membrane. Thus, there reflect distinct differences in the
morphologies of the two.
Figure 4a, b shows that X-ray diffraction pattern of the
membranes. It suggests that both the membranes (Poly-
sulfone and thin film composite membrane) are amorphous
in character. The thin film composite membrane is rela-
tively more amorphous compared to Polysulfone.
Separation Performances
The separation performances of salt (i.e. sodium chloride)
were experimented to mark the membrane. The salt
rejection abilities of thin film composite membranes can be
explained by different theories (viz. Solution diffusion,
preferential sorption as well as electrical) [26].
In the solution diffusion model chemical potential gra-
dient across the membrane depends only on concentration
gradient [27].Considering the solution diffusion model the
mass transfer of solvent (in case of water) through an RO
membrane is expressed following the mathematical equa-
tion if the concentration polarization is neglected.
Jw¼AðDPDpÞ
where J
w
is the water flux m/s, A water permeability co-
efficient (m
3
/m
2
s MPa), DP transmembrane pressure dif-
ference, Dp, the osmotic pressure difference, MPa).
As osmotic pressure is a colligative one, it increases in
the solution with the concentration of NaCl and thus net
driving force (DP-Dp) decreases. The permeate flux (J
w
)
decreases from 500 to 1000 mg/L. The salt rejection (%)
and permeate flux under different salt concentrations are in
the ensemble (Table 1).
The solute flux J
s
can be written as
Js¼JwCp¼BDCs
where C
p
is the concentration of permeate, DC
s
is the
concentration difference of feed and permeate, B is the
solute permeability co-efficient m/s, it includes salt diffu-
sion co-efficient inside the membrane, partition co-efficient
of salt between the membrane and the solution, thickness
of the separation layer [28].
Figure 5depicts the variation of J
s
with DC
s
. The per-
meability co-efficient, B value is obtained from the slope of
the straight line. B value is 0.98 910
-6
m/s. It signifies
the NaCl permeability co-efficient through the prepared
membrane. It is one of the characteristic parameters of the
prepared TFC membrane.
To check the separation performance of hydroquinone
from water the particular membrane is used. Figure 6I, III
depict the separation performances of hydroquinone by
varying two different concentrations (viz. 5 mg/L and
10 mg/L). It indicates that separation performances
decrease with the increase in hydroquinone concentrations
in water.
In low pH (pH 3.5), the structural chemistries of mem-
branes and hydroquinone are very interesting. During
polyamide layer formation, the interfacial polymerization
occurs between diamine and multifunctional acid chlorides.
Apart from the diamine and acid chloride reaction, few
acid chloride moieties are hydrolyzed and formed carboxyl
groups. The carboxyl group in the polyamide generates a
positive charge on the membrane in acidic pH as the zeta
potential suggests (Fig. 2). It is obvious that the hydro-
quinone solutes are non-polar in the neutral condition,
where as there are chances to exist in the protonated form
Fig. 2 Variation of zeta potential values of polyamide composite
membrane in different pH
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy

(viz. QH
2
2?
,QH
?
) in low pH and become polar. There are
chances to orient hydroquinone molecules to pass through
the charged membrane as literature reveals similar [6] and
thus little bit separation performance decreases. (Figure 6
(I &II)) In alkaline condition the rate of oxidation of
hydroquinone by air is accelerated and formation of 1,2,4
benzene triol is possible in the presence of water [8]. The
solution changes its color instantaneously. Thus the sepa-
ration performance through the membrane is avoided in the
present context.
Figure 7shows the membrane separation performances
of hydroquinone mixed with different concentrations of
NaCl. The salt separation decreases with its concentration
as discussed earlier. The hydroquinone separation is in
decreasing trend with the presence of salt concentration.
The performance behavior can be explained by the factors
(viz. Pore swelling, salting out). The repulsion between the
ions in the pores makes it effectively more size and thus the
separation of hydroquinone falls. The presence of salts (i.e.
chaotropic agents) into the organic system may disrupt the
tetrahedral structure of water [29–31] have shown that salts
disturb the orientation order of water and thus not aligned
to the directional H– bonds of the solute results a misci-
bility gap. In simple view the ‘salting out’ is the compe-
tition of water of hydration between the organics and salt
molecules. It causes the loss of hydration of the organics
and thus decreases the hydrated size of the feed solutes.
The active size of the molecules has the spontaneity to pass
through the membrane and as a result separation decrease.
It is also seen that separation decreases with the concen-
tration of NaCl. The variation of the flux is in decreasing
trend.
Fig. 3 Scanning Electron Micrograph of Polysulfone (a) and thin film polyamide composite (b) membranes
2000
1500
1000
500
COUNTS
70605040302010
DIFFRACTION ANGLE
a
b
Fig. 4 XRD pattern of Polysulfone (a) and thin film polyamide
composite (b) membranes
Table 1 Separation performance of NaCl having different concen-
trations through thin film composite membrane
NaCl conc. (mg/L) Rejection (%) Flux (LMH)
500 83.41 16.50
800 81.8 15.09
1000 80.6 14.15
400 500 600 700 800
1400
1680
1960
2240
2520
2800
J
s
(mg m
-2
hr
-1
)
C
s
(mg/L)
Fig. 5 Variation of solute permeability (J
s
) of NaCl with concentra-
tion difference between feed and permeate of various concentrations
through thin film composite membrane
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy

Figure 8shows the variation of membrane separation
performances of hydroquinone mixed with different con-
centrations of NaCl in acidic pH. The pH effect is much
more prominent in NaCl separation. The decrease is pro-
nounced in low pH, though the rejection of NaCl decreases
with rising electrolyte concentration as shown earlier in
normal pH. The zeta potential behavior is not only a
function of the dissociated/undissociated functional groups,
but influenced by the adsorption of dissolved ions also.
The H
?
rejection increases as pH increases in the per-
meate. This is reflected from pH studies. The competitive
rejection of Na
?
(i.e. NaCl) decreases. Though the
hydroquinone separation in NaCl in acidic pH shows
similar behavior as earlier, but the decrease is not so much
reflected, as the NaCl separation is prominent.
Separation Performances in Field Water Matrix
The field water composition taken for hydroquinone sep-
aration is detailed in Table 2. The separation study shows
83.59% separation having flux 14.85 LMH. The results
show there is somewhat decreased in performance for
hydroquinone separation compared to deionized water
matrix. It may be explained similarly that the presence of
salts influence pore swelling and salting out.
Conclusions
Thin film polyamide composite membrane was prepared
through interfacial polymerization of 1,3 phenylene dia-
mine and 1,3,5 trimesoyl chloride on Polysulfone asym-
IIIIII
0
20
40
60
80
100
)(LMH
J
W
)(LMH
J
W
(%)R
(%)R
)(LMH
J
W
(%)R
Fig. 6 Separation performance of hydroquinone through thin film
composite membrane I5 mg/L at pH 6.4, II 5 mg/L at pH 3.5 and III
10 mg/L at pH 6.4
0 200 400 600 800 1000
50
60
70
80
90
100
Conc. (mg/L)
R (%)
0
7
14
21
28
35
Jw, LMH
Fig. 7 Separation performance of hydroquinone in different NaCl
concentrations (I) and NaCl (II) at pH 6.4 through thin film composite
membrane
0 200 400 600 800 1000
60
70
80
90
100
Conc. (mg/L)
R (%)
6
12
18
24
30
36
Jw, LMH
Fig. 8 Separation performance of hydroquinone in different NaCl
concentrations (I) and NaCl (II) at pH 3.5 through thin film composite
membrane
Table 2 Field water composition and Membrane separation perfor-
mance of hydroquinone in this field water matrix
Field water nature pH—6.3
TDS—724 mg/L
TOC—51.03 mg/L
Field water ionic
composition, mg/L
Na
?
—292.3
Mg
??
—153.8
Ca
??
—96.0
Membrane separation
performance
R% (Hydroquinone)—83.59
Flux (LMH)—14.85
R% Salts (conductivity based)—85.2
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy

metric membrane. FTIR studies showed the amide forma-
tion on the Polysulfone membrane. XRD, Zeta potential
and contact angle studies were carried out for the charac-
terization of the membranes. Considering solution diffu-
sion model the permeability co-efficient of sodium chloride
were determined and shown the value 0.98 910
-6
m/s.
Hydroquinone separation was carried out and shown
88.87% separation for normal condition (i.e. pH 6.4). The
separation was influenced by its nature of water matrices
(viz. pH, NaCl). The acidic pH and presence of NaCl
decreased its separation behavior. The combined effect
showed little effect on hydroquinone separation as pH
influenced more on NaCl separation. The performance is
influenced by field water matrix.
Acknowledgements Authors are grateful to SERB, Department of
Science and Technology, India for research funding.
References
1. Bhattacharya A, Misra B (2004) Grafting: a versatile means to
modify polymers: techniques, factors and applications. Prog
Polym Sci 29(8):767–814
2. Belhateche DH (1995) Choose appropriate wastewater treatment
technologies. Chem Eng Prog 91(8):32–51
3. Cadotte JE, Petersen RJ (1981) Thin-film composite reverse-os-
mosis membranes, origin, development, and recent advances
[Water purification]. In: ACS symposium series (USA), J Am
Chem Soc
4. Mulder M (2003) Basic principles of membrane technology.
Kluwer, Dordrecht
5. Tarboush BJA, Rana D, Matsuura T, Arafat H, Narbaitz R (2008)
Preparation of thin-film-composite polyamide membranes for
desalination using novel hydrophilic surface modifying macro-
molecules. J Membr Sci 325(1):166–175
6. Bhattacharya A (2006) Remediation of pesticide-polluted waters
through membranes. Sep Purif Rev 35(1):1–38
7. Suresh S, Srivastava VC, Mishra IM (2012) Adsorption of cate-
chol, resorcinol, hydroquinone, and their derivatives: a review.
Int J Energy Environ Eng 3:1–19
8. Hudnall PM (2000) Hydroquinone. In: Elvers B (ed) Ullmann’s
encyclopedia of industrial chemistry. Wiley-VCH, Tennessee
Eastman Company, Kinsport, TN
9. Suresh S, Srivastava VC, Mishra IM (2011) Study of catechol and
resorcinol adsorption mechanism through granular activated
carbon characterization, pH and kinetic study. Sep Sci Technol
46(11):1750–1766
10. Ayranci E, Duman O (2005) Adsorption behaviors of some
phenolic compounds onto high specific area activated carbon
cloth. J Hazard Mater 124(1):125–132
11. YıldızN,Go
¨nu
¨ls¸ en R, Koyuncu H, C¸alımlıA (2005) Adsorption
of benzoic acid and hydroquinone by organically modified ben-
tonites. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 260(1):87–94
12. Li L, Fan L, Sun M, Qiu H, Li X, Duan H, Luo C (2013)
Adsorbent for hydroquinone removal based on graphene oxide
functionalized with magnetic cyclodextrin–chitosan. Int J Biol
Macromol 58:169–175
13. Ouachtak H, Akbour RA, Douch J, Jada A, Hamdani M (2015)
Removal from water and adsorption onto natural quartz sand of
hydroquinone. J Encapsul Adsorpt Sci 5(03):131
14. Latkar M, Swaminathan K, Chakrabarti T (2003) Kinetics of
anaerobic biodegradation of resorcinol catechol and hydro-
quinone in upflow fixed film–fixed bed reactors. Bioresour
Technol 88(1):69–74
15. Nasr B, Abdellatif G, Canizares P, Sa
´ez C, Lobato J, Rodrigo MA
(2005) Electrochemical oxidation of hydroquinone, resorcinol,
and catechol on boron-doped diamond anodes. Environ Sci
Technol 39(18):7234–7239
16. Chien SC, Chen H, Wang M, Seshaiah K (2009) Oxidative
degradation and associated mineralization of catechol, hydro-
quinone and resorcinol catalyzed by birnessite. Chemosphere
74(8):1125–1133
17. Arana J, Rodrı
´guez CF, Dı
´az OG, Melia
´n JH, Pena JP (2005)
Role of Cu in the Cu–TiO
2
photocatalytic degradation of dihy-
droxybenzenes. Catal Today 101(3):261–266
18. Prabhakaran D, Basha C, Kannadasan T, Aravinthan P (2010)
Removal of hydroquinone from water by electrocoagulation
using flow cell and optimization by response surface methodol-
ogy. J Environ Sci Health, Part A 45(4):400–412
19. Mehta R, Brahmbhatt H, Saha N, Bhattacharya A (2015)
Removal of substituted phenyl urea pesticides by reverse osmosis
membranes: laboratory scale study for field water application.
Desalination 358:69–75
20. Asai S, Majumdar S, Gupta A, Kargupta K, Ganguly S (2009)
Dynamics and pattern formation in thermally induced phase
separation of polymer–solvent system. Comput Mater Sci
47(1):193–205
21. Zhao W, Su Y, Li C, Shi Q, Ning X, Jiang Z (2008) Fabrication
of antifouling polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes using
Pluronic F127 as both surface modifier and pore-forming agent.
J Membr Sci 318(1):405–412
22. Kapantaidakis G, Koops G, Wessling M (2002) Effect of spin-
ning conditions on the structure and the gas permeation properties
of high flux polyethersulfone—polyimide blend hollow fibers.
Desalination 144(1):121–125
23. Sharma S, Dhandhala N, Bhattacharya A (2012) Studies on the
effects of salt and surfactant in wet phase separation of poly-
sulfone. J Macromol Sci Phys Part A 49(11):918–925
24. Blanco J-F, Sublet J, Nguyen QT, Schaetzel P (2006) Formation
and morphology studies of different polysulfones-based mem-
branes made by wet phase inversion process. J Membr Sci
283(1):27–37
25. Azari S, Karimi M, Kish M (2010) Structural properties of the
poly (acrylonitrile) membrane prepared with different cast
thicknesses. Ind Eng Chem Res 49(5):2442–2448
26. Bhattacharya A, Ghosh P (2004) Nanofiltration and reverse
osmosis membranes: theory and application in separation of
electrolytes. Rev Chem Eng 20(1–2):111–173
27. Wijmans J, Baker R (1995) The solution–diffusion model: a
review. J Membr Sci 107:1–21
28. Hung L-Y, Lue SJ, You J-H (2011) Mass-transfer modeling of
reverse-osmosis performance on 0.5–2% salty water. Desalina-
tion 265(1):67–73
29. Leberman R, Soper A (1995) Effect of high salt concentrations on
water structure. Nature 378:364
30. Postorino P, Tromp R, Ricci M, Soper A, Neilson G (1993) The
interatomic structure of water at supercritical temperatures.
Nature 366:668
31. Willauer HD, Huddleston JG, Rogers RD (2002) Solute parti-
tioning in aqueous biphasic systems composed of polyethylene
glycol and salt: the partitioning of small neutral organic species.
Ind Eng Chem Res 41(7):1892–1904
J Polym Environ
123
Author's personal copy