blog.imm.cnr.it

CAMBIO ORARIO Incontro SMeet - Venerdì 24 Settembre 2021 ORE 10:00

Cari tutti,

vi invitiamo a partecipare all'incontro “SMeet” - Science Sharing Meetings, previsto per giorno Venerdì, 24 Settembre alle ore 11:30 (con ammissione in stanza disponibile dalle 11:20) che, attenendoci al protocollo relativo all’emergenza COVID-19, si terrà online tramite la piattaforma Microsoft Teams attraverso il seguente link:

http://bit.ly/SMEET-IMM

Il meeting prevede:

* Speaker: Dott.ssa S. Filice

* Chair: Dott.ssa S. Scalese

* Titolo: Sulfonated pentablock copolymer membranes for water purification applications

* Abstract:
Recently scientific communityand governments pointed out the urgent need of new materials and technologies for water purification. This is underlined by the fact that under the first Horizon calls for projects, approximately €165 million are provided to water-related projects and this topic remains a key objective under the new EU research and innovation funding program, Horizon 2020. The increase of global population within global warming seriously affects water quality and availability. Only 0.75% of natural water is available for the survival of all living creatures outside of the sea. 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 2.6billion have little or no sanitation, millions of people die annually from diseases transmitted through unsafe water and around $7.3million is spent on healthcare for waterborne diseases alone. Water also strongly affects energy and food production, industrial development, and the environment quality, affecting the economies, health of population and social development of both developing and industrialized nations. Nanocomposite membranes are new effective and low cost materials for water purification, combining theadvantages of membrane technology, nanoparticles, photocatalysis within theadvantage of reducing power disposal and having reusable materials. NexarTM, as commercially known, is asymmetric pentablock copolymer comprised of poly[t-butyl styrene-b-hydrogenatedisoprene-b-sulfonated styrene-b-hydrogenated isoprene-b-t-butylstyrene] (tBS-HI-SS-HI-tBS). Its block architecture within the presence of sulfonilic groups make this polymer a good candidate for water purification application within a good trade-off between hydrophilicity and mechanicalstability. NexarTM is able to efficientlyremove positive charged water contaminants (i.e. Methylene Blue and heavy metals such as cobalt, nickel, chromium and lead) mainly through adsorption dueto electrostatic attraction [1,2]. Negative charged contaminants such as MethylOrange are not absorbed unless the pH is shifted to acid values since the dyeassumed a positive charge [1]. The dispersion of Graphene Oxide inside thispolymeric matrix increases its adsorption abilities, while the dispersion ofinorganic semiconductors such as Titanium Dioxide and Bismuth Oxide confer tothe polymer a photodegradation ability either under UV and Visible light irradiation [1-3]. NexarTM can be used as active coating for fouling minimization of commercial filters such as polypropylene(PP) filters. Indeed, unlike PP filters, NexarTM covered PP filters showno attachment of bacteria on their surface avoiding biofilm formation and thisis related to NexarTM high hydrophilicity, higher smoothness and sulfonilic functionalization. Moreover, the presence of acid sulfonilic groups is responsible of selective dyes adsorption and antimicrobial activity againstLegionella and Pseudomonas [4,5].
These results should beconsidered as a first step in developing efficient membranes and innovativefilters with photocatalytic activity and removal ability towards variousorganic pollutants and ions from water. Besides the water purification applications, these membranes, due to high proton conductivity, find application as polymeric electrolyte in fuel cells, photoelectrochemical solarcells or water electrolyser for hydrogen production, as suggested by a recent work [6].

1. S. Filice, D. D’Angelo,     A. Scarangella, D. Iannazzo, G. Compagnini and S. Scalese, Highly     effective and reusable sulfonated pentablock copolymer nanocomposites for     water purification applications. RSC Advances, (2017),     7(72):45521-45534.
2. S Filice, M     Mazurkiewicz-Pawlicka, A Malolepszy, L Stobinski, R Kwiatkowski, A     Boczkowska, L Gradon, S Scalese Sulfonated pentablock copolymer membranes     and graphene oxide addition for efficient removal of metal ions from     water.  Nanomaterials, (2020), 10 (6), 1157.
3. D. D’Angelo, S. Filice*, A.     Scarangella, D. Iannazzo, G. Compagnini, S. Scalese, Bi2O3 /     Nexar® polymer nanocomposite membranes for visible photocatalytic     applications. Catalysis Today, (2019), 321–322, 158–163.
4. E L Sciuto, S Filice, M A Coniglio, G Faro, L     Gradon, C Galati, N Spinella, S Libertino, S Scalese Antimicrobial s-PBC     Coatings for Innovative Multifunctional Water Filters. Molecules, (2020),     25 (21), 5196.
5. E.L. Sciuto, P. Laganà,     S. Filice, S. Scalese, S. Libertino, D. Corso, G. Faro, M.A. Coniglio     Environmental Management of Legionella in Domestic Water Systems:     Consolidated and Innovative Approaches for Disinfection Methods and Risk     Assessment. Microorganisms, (2021), 9, 577.
6. S Filice, G Urzì, RG     Milazzo, SMS Privitera, SA Lombardo, G Compagnini, S Scalese,     Applicability of a New Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymer Membrane and     Modified Gas Diffusion Layers for Low-Cost Water Splitting Processes. Energies,     (2019), 12, 2064.

Durante il meeting verranno, inoltre, presentati i risultati del sondaggio sul progetto SMeet e sulle attività svolte finora.

Vi aspettiamo numerosi,

Saluti

SMeet – Comitato Organizzativo
smeet[@]imm.cnr.it
Web-page: https://hq.imm.cnr.it/smeet-science-sharing-meetings