Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang;Jiaheng Zhang;Pengcheng Su;Zehai Xu;Wanbin Li;Chong Shen;Qin Meng
Chemical Communications 2017 vol. 53(Issue 59) pp:8340-8343
Publication Date(Web):2017/07/20
DOI:10.1039/C7CC03409A
Non-activation metal–organic framework (MOF) arrays are directly applied as a coating layer to fabricate a stable superhydrophobic micro/nano flower-like architecture. The MOF functionalized surfaces can be synthesized easily on different substrates without any activation procedure or modification by low free energy materials, which exhibit attractive performance in oil/water separation.
Co-reporter:Lei Qin, Zhaowen Li, Qiong Hu, Zehai Xu, Xinwen Guo and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2016 vol. 52(Issue 44) pp:7110-7113
Publication Date(Web):03 May 2016
DOI:10.1039/C6CC02453J
A one-pot organic-acid-directed post-synthetic modification allows molecular iron/citric acid complexes to be anchored into amine-functionalized MOFs by a simple and rapid liquid spraying method. Amidation between organic acid and –NH2 groups of ligands can lead to more small nanoparticles (NPs) that are well-dispersed into MOFs and exhibit high activity for photocatalytic H2O2 splitting.
Co-reporter:Zehai Xu, Wanbin Li, Yufan Zhang, Zhen Xue, Xinwen Guo, and Guoliang Zhang
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2016 Volume 55(Issue 40) pp:10591
Publication Date(Web):September 16, 2016
DOI:10.1021/acs.iecr.6b01004
In this study, we report the fabrication of hollow reduced graphene oxide microspheres with well-distributed Fe2O3 nanoparticles (Fe-rGOS) via a spray-drying methodology. l-Ascorbic acid was employed to reduce graphite oxide (GO) and improve velocity of electrons transfer. Because of l-ascorbic acid and the spray-drying procedure, the in situ Fe2O3 nanoparticles with a mean size of 5–10 nm were uniformly deposited on rGO support and the rGO migrated to the surface of the drop to form microspheres. The well dispersed nanoparticles not only generated more active sites and interface contact which was beneficial to enhance the stability of catalysts but also acted as pillars between the rGO layers to achieve mesoporous structure. The formed mesoporous frameworks enhanced mass transfer to a large extent and led to the much better catalytic efficiency. Therefore, the prepared Fe-rGOS exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic activity in a wide pH range and superior recyclability with low leaching of iron ions.
Co-reporter:Dr. Wanbin Li;Yufan Zhang;Zehai Xu;Dr. Qin Meng;Dr. Zheng Fan;Shuaiju Ye;Dr. Guoliang Zhang
Angewandte Chemie 2016 Volume 128( Issue 3) pp:967-971
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1002/ange.201508795
Abstract
The assembly of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) into microcapsules has attracted great interest because of their unique properties. However, it remains a challenge to obtain MOF microcapsules with size selectivity at the molecular scale. In this report, we used cell walls from natural biomaterials as non-toxic, stable, and inexpensive support materials to assemble MOF/cell wall (CW) microcapsules with size-selective permeability. By making use of the hollow structure, small pores, and high density of heterogeneous nucleation sites of the cell walls, uniform and continuous MOF layers could be easily obtained by inside/outside interfacial crystallization. The prepared MOF/CW microcapsules have excellent stability and enable the steady, slow, and size-selective release of small molecules. Moreover, the size selectivity of the microcapsules can be adjusted by changing the type of deposited MOF.
Co-reporter:Dr. Wanbin Li;Yufan Zhang;Zehai Xu;Dr. Qin Meng;Dr. Zheng Fan;Shuaiju Ye;Dr. Guoliang Zhang
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2016 Volume 55( Issue 3) pp:955-959
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1002/anie.201508795
Abstract
The assembly of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) into microcapsules has attracted great interest because of their unique properties. However, it remains a challenge to obtain MOF microcapsules with size selectivity at the molecular scale. In this report, we used cell walls from natural biomaterials as non-toxic, stable, and inexpensive support materials to assemble MOF/cell wall (CW) microcapsules with size-selective permeability. By making use of the hollow structure, small pores, and high density of heterogeneous nucleation sites of the cell walls, uniform and continuous MOF layers could be easily obtained by inside/outside interfacial crystallization. The prepared MOF/CW microcapsules have excellent stability and enable the steady, slow, and size-selective release of small molecules. Moreover, the size selectivity of the microcapsules can be adjusted by changing the type of deposited MOF.
Co-reporter:Dr. Guoliang Zhang;Dr. Lei Qin;Dr. Lei Chen;Dr. Zehai Xu;Mingming Liu;Dr. Xinwen Guo
ChemCatChem 2016 Volume 8( Issue 2) pp:426-433
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1002/cctc.201501036
Abstract
We present a facial one-pot synthesis method for fabrication of mesoporous anatase-TiO2(B) mixed-phase nanowires (TNWs) decorated with sulfur and Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs). Through one-pot calcination, control of morphology and crystal phase for TNWs was easily achieved. After calcined at 773 K, mixed-phase heterostructured TNWs with mesoporous structure and high surface area were obtained. This can not only lead ultrafine NPs well-disperse in porous matrix, but also greatly enhance interfacial separation and transfer of photo-induced charges between various planes. Moreover, sulfur doping improved acid/light properties of solid and brought more orbital-overlapping between active sites and H2O2. The prepared S-Fe2O3/anatase-TiO2(B) TNWs had excellent catalytic ability in visible-light assisted Fenton oxidation at neutral pH, which was attributed to the synergistic effect of sulfur species, NPs and TNWs. The progresses are valuable in developing highly efficient and green heterogeneous catalysts.
Co-reporter:Pengcheng Su, Wanbin Li, Congyang Zhang, Qin Meng, Chong Shen and Guoliang Zhang
Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2015 vol. 3(Issue 40) pp:20345-20351
Publication Date(Web):27 Aug 2015
DOI:10.1039/C5TA04400F
Great advances have been made in metal–organic framework membranes recently. However, preparation of stiff and integrated MOF/polymer membranes still remains a big issue. Herein, metal based gels as versatile precursors were first employed to prepare continuous and integrated MOF/polymer hollow fiber membranes. The metal based gel was put into/on various polymer substrates adequately, which can be transformed into pure MOF crystals and lead to formation of continuous MOF crystals on the surface and in the pores of the hollow fiber easily. By using this method, we can not only fabricate continuous MOF membranes without a conventional activation step but also can greatly enhance the stiffness of the membranes through mutual support of MOFs and substrates. The strategy also has an appropriate level of generality which can be used for preparation of inter-grown MOF membranes on different kinds of substrates. The prepared membranes exhibited excellent gas separation performance with a H2/N2 separation factor as high as 22.7.
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Lei Qin, Yujiao Wu, Zehai Xu and Xinwen Guo
Nanoscale 2015 vol. 7(Issue 3) pp:1102-1109
Publication Date(Web):17 Nov 2014
DOI:10.1039/C4NR05884D
A novel SiO2 nanosphere was synthesized by the post-synthetic grafting of sulfonic acid groups on to anionic-surfactant-templated mesoporous NH2-silica (AMAS). This one-pot post-functionalization strategy allowed more metal ions to be homogeneously anchored into the channel of the meso-SiO2 nanosphere. After hydrothermal and calcination treatment, the in situ growth of α-Fe2O3 on sulfonic acid-functionalized mesoporous NH2–SiO2 (SA-AMAS) exhibited much higher activity in the visible-light assisted Fenton reaction at neutral pH than that for AMAS or meso-SiO2 nanospheres. By analysis, the grafted sulfonic acid group can not only enhance the acid strength of the catalyst, but can also bring more orbital-overlapping between the active sites (FeII and FeIII) and the surface peroxide species, to facilitate the decomposition of H2O2 to hydroxyl radical. The present results provide opportunities for developing heterogeneous catalysts with high-performance in the field of green chemistry and environmental remediation.
Co-reporter:Zehai Xu, Cheng Huang, Ling Wang, Xiaoxue Pan, Lei Qin, Xinwen Guo, and Guoliang Zhang
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2015 Volume 54(Issue 16) pp:4593-4602
Publication Date(Web):April 6, 2015
DOI:10.1021/acs.iecr.5b00335
Morphology and crystal structure usually play important roles in improving catalytic properties and activity of catalysts. In this study, sulfate functionalized Fe2O3/TiO2 nanotubes as visible light-active heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts were synthesized by solvothermal and acid impregnation method. The nanoparticles supported hybrids materials with one-dimensional nanostructures were characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which revealed an intact tubulous morphology structure, high crystallinity, and large surface area. Optical properties were examined by UV spectroscopy and showed a significant reduction in band gap. It was found that the hydrothermal temperature in the synthetic process had an obvious effect on the morphology and structure of prepared samples with transformation from nanotubes to nanowires. The morphology control of support led to Fe2O3 nanoparticles highly dispersed in porous structure of TiO2 nanotubes, which was beneficial to the transfer of photogenerated electrons between (101) planes in anatase TiO2 and (113) planes of α-Fe2O3. After the sulfate groups were introduced into the structure of Fe2O3/TiO2 nanotubes, the photocatalytic performance was enhanced due to the enlargement of light absorption and surface acidity. The prepared sulfated Fe2O3/TiO2 nanotubes with strong synergistic effects had a remarkable catalytic activity in the wide pH range of 4.0–10.0 and exhibited an excellent stability and reusability, which presented a good potentiality for application in environmental and energy fields.
Co-reporter:Dr. Wanbin Li;Dr. Qin Meng;Dr. Congyang Zhang;Dr. Guoliang Zhang
Chemistry - A European Journal 2015 Volume 21( Issue 19) pp:7224-7230
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1002/chem.201500007
Abstract
Herein we report a new ammoniation-based chemical modification strategy for synthesis of continuous and uniform metal–organic framework (MOF)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes with attractive performance. Ammoniation can promote the support PVDF membrane to produce amino groups, form a nanoparticle structure, and be well cross-linked; therefore, the high-density heterogeneous nucleation sites for MOFs growth were provided and the thermal stability and chemical resistance of composite membranes can be greatly improved. The high-quality layers of representative Cu-BTC and ZIF-8 were synthesized on the chemically modified PVDF membranes. By ammoniation, ZIF-7 can even be grown under harsh synthetic conditions such as in DMF precursor solutions at 403 K. The fabricated MOF/PVDF composite membranes with excellent hollow fiber structures and enhanced structural stability exhibited high H2 permselectivities for H2/CO2 and H2/N2.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Zhihong Yang, Guoliang Zhang, Zheng Fan, Qin Meng, Chong Shen and Congjie Gao
Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2014 vol. 2(Issue 7) pp:2110-2118
Publication Date(Web):12 Nov 2013
DOI:10.1039/C3TA13781C
Metal–organic framework (MOF) membranes used for gas separation have attracted considerable attention recently. Although there are studies focusing on their continuous growth on inorganic substrates, MOF–polymer membranes are in demand because of their low cost, high processing ability and large membrane area. To achieve this purpose, the flexibility of the polymer must be reduced and the MOF-to-substrate adhesion strength should be greatly enhanced. Herein, a continuous and well inter-grown Cu3(BTC)2–PAN composite membrane has been successfully fabricated by directly growing via a covalent linker. Dehydrogenation, cyclization and crosslinking reactions of the PAN hollow fiber by solvothermal treatment can greatly improve the stiffness and compression strength of the composite membrane. To increase the adhesion strength effectively, a covalent linker between the MOF layer and PAN substrate is provided by chemical modification. The prepared membrane achieves a high H2 permeance of 7.05 × 10−5 mol (m−2 s−1 Pa−1) and a good separation factor of 7.14 for binary H2–CO2 mixtures with high thermal and pressure stability. Our strategy has also been developed for preparing a continuous and well inter-grown ZIF-8–PAN membrane. A very thin ZIF-8 layer is finally synthesized due to the large number of nucleation sites on the substrate. All of these distinguished properties suggest that MOF–PAN composite membranes fabricated by chemical modification are promising candidates for gas separation.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Guoliang Zhang, Congyang Zhang, Qin Meng, Zheng Fan and Congjie Gao
Chemical Communications 2014 vol. 50(Issue 24) pp:3214-3216
Publication Date(Web):03 Feb 2014
DOI:10.1039/C3CC49815H
Mixed-matrix membranes and MOF layer membranes were integrated to synthesize novel trinity MOF membranes by using different substrates such as polymeric hollow fiber membranes. The trinity membranes exhibited excellent performance for both H2/CO2 and N2/CO2 separation.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Yufan Zhang, Zehai Xu, Asang Yang, Qin Meng and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2014 vol. 50(Issue 100) pp:15867-15869
Publication Date(Web):30 Oct 2014
DOI:10.1039/C4CC07734B
GO microcapsules were assembled on the surface of atomized droplets prepared by a spray-drying strategy. The nanochannels in the microcapsule wall can be adjusted by water-soluble polymers and make the microcapsule exhibit sustained release. The strategy can further be employed to encapsulate metal organic frameworks to obtain MOF–GO yolk–shell superstructures.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Qin Meng, Xiaonian Li, Congyang Zhang, Zheng Fan and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2014 vol. 50(Issue 68) pp:9711-9713
Publication Date(Web):19 Jun 2014
DOI:10.1039/C4CC03864A
A non-activation (NA) ZnO array is directly grown on a PVDF hollow fiber membrane. The defect-free MOF layers can be synthesized easily on the NA-ZnO array without any activation procedure. The array and MOF layers are strongly adhered to the hollow fiber membrane. The prepared ZIF membranes exhibit excellent gas separation performances.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Zhihong Yang, Qin Meng, Chong Shen, Guoliang Zhang
Journal of Membrane Science 2014 467() pp: 253-261
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1016/j.memsci.2014.05.019
Co-reporter:Chong Shen, Qin Meng, Wenjuan He, Qichen Wang, Guoliang Zhang
Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 2014 Volume 123() pp:762-769
Publication Date(Web):1 November 2014
DOI:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2014.10.023
•Drug adsorption on polymer membranes is inhibited by PEG-b-PPO-b-PEG copolymers.•PPO reduces electrostatic adsorption of base drugs.•3D cultured hepatocytes in L121 HFM sensitively reflect drug hepatotoxicity in vivo.The three dimensional (3D) cell culture in polymer-based micro system has become a useful tool for in vitro drug discovery. Among those polymers, polysulfone hollow fiber membrane (PSf HFM) is commonly used to create a microenvironment for cells. However, the target drug may adsorb on the polymeric surface, and this elicits negative impacts on cell exposure due to the reduced effective drug concentration in culture medium. In order to reduce the drug adsorption, PSf membrane were modified with hydrophilic Pluronic (PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO) copolymers, L121, P123 and F127 (PEO contents increase from 10%, 30% to 70%), by physical adsorption. As a result, the hydrophilicity of HFMs increased at an order of PSf < L121 < P123 < F127 HFMs, while the negative surface charge decreased at the order of PSf > F127 > P123 > L121 HFMs. The three modified membrane all showed significant resistance to adsorption of acid/neutral drugs. More importantly, the adsorption of base drugs were largely reduced to an average value of 11% on the L121 HFM. The improved resistance to drug adsorption could be attributed to the synergy of hydrophobic/neutrally charged PPO and hydrophilic PEO. The L121 HFM was further assessed by evaluating the drug hepatotoxicity in 3D culture of hepatocytes. The base drugs, clozapine and doxorubicin, showed more sensitive hepatotoxicity on hepatocytes in L121 HFM than in PSf HFM, while the acid drug, salicylic acid, showed the similar hepatotoxicity to hepatocytes in both HFMs. Our finding suggests that PSf HFM modified by PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO copolymers can efficiently resist the drug adsorption onto polymer membrane, and consequently improve the accuracy and sensitivity of in vitro hepatotoxic drug screening.
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Shufei Lu, Liang Zhang, Qin Meng, Chong Shen, Jiwei Zhang
Journal of Membrane Science 2013 Volume 436() pp:163-173
Publication Date(Web):1 June 2013
DOI:10.1016/j.memsci.2013.02.009
Hybrid membranes formed by blending TiO2 nanoparticles and organic materials are attractive for creating new materials with enhanced properties such as high permselectivity, good hydrophilicity and excellent fouling resistance in a wide range of applications. In order to overcome the agglomeration of nanoparticles in membranes and leakage of nanoparticles from nanocomposite membranes in the water treatment process and enhance the hydrophilicity of membranes, polymer chains of HEMA (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) were grown from TiO2 by the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) process in methanol. The hybrid polysulfone (PSF) membranes were then prepared by adding different ratios of TiO2 (T membranes) and TiO2-g-HEMA (HT membranes) particles via phase inversion induced by the immersion precipitation technique. The modification nanoparticles were found to provide obvious improvements in reducing the particles agglomeration and fouling in sheet membranes. Different techniques such as SEM, TEM, FTIR, EDS, contact angle goniometry and filtration experiments of water, BSA and EPS were applied to characterize and explore the performance of particles and membranes. Compared with unmodified TiO2 particles, modified TiO2 particles held enhanced hydrophilicity, better compatibility and dispersibility in organic solvent and matrix polymer. Similarly, the HT membranes exhibited superior water flux and anti-pollution performance in separation than the pure PSF membrane and T membranes.Graphical AbstractHighlights► TiO2 was modified with HEMA by ATRP and successfully used as PSF membrane additives. ► Grafted TiO2 had good compatibility and hydrophilicity in solvent and matrix polymer. ► Particle agglomeration and macrovoids in hybrid HT membrane were suppressed. ► HT membrane exhibited superior water flux and anti-pollution ability in separation.
Co-reporter:Jiwei Zhang, Ling Wang, Guoliang Zhang, Zhiyang Wang, Lusheng Xu, Zheng Fan
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2013 Volume 389(Issue 1) pp:273-283
Publication Date(Web):1 January 2013
DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2012.08.062
Filtration performances of hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane were investigated in a photocatalysis/ultrafiltration process used for dyeing wastewater treatment. Special attentions were focused on the dye-TiO2 interactions and their effect on membrane flux and dye rejection. Solution pH was proved to be the predominant force that controlled the interactions by changing the surface charge characteristics of TiO2 and altering the size and fractal dimension of TiO2 aggregates which determined the property and structure of deposit layer. Dye-TiO2 interaction had pronounced effect on membrane flux in adsorptive regions, but this effect became insignificant in non-adsorptive regions. The rejection of dye in the presence of TiO2 was found to decrease markedly due to the deposition of TiO2 particles on membrane interface. Bridging effect of TiO2 between membrane interface and dyes produced by electronic interaction, coordination, and hydrogen bonding was responsible for the decrease in dye rejection. In view of the results presented in this paper, the interactions between pollutant and photocatalysts and their effect on the performance of membrane in hybrid photocatalysis/membrane process should be taken into consideration in the future practice.Graphical abstractHighlights► TiO2 adsorbs dye results in decrease in fractal dimension and increase in size. ► The positive effect of photocatalysis on membrane flux is controlled by solution pH. ► Bridging effect produced by TiO2 may facilitate dyes permeating membrane.
Co-reporter:Yujiao Wu, Lei Qin, Guoliang Zhang, Lei Chen, Xinwen Guo, and Min Liu
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2013 Volume 52(Issue 47) pp:16698-16708
Publication Date(Web):October 31, 2013
DOI:10.1021/ie402238s
Porous solid superacid SO42–/Fe2–xZrxO3 bimetallic oxide was first synthesized by citric acid templated method and impregnated in vitriol solution. The prepared catalyst possessing mesopores and macropores exhibited high activity for degradation of azo dye in photo-Fenton reaction under visible-light irradiation. By characterization of the catalysts, it revealed that both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites immobilized on solid surface were attributed to the synergetic effect of Zr and SO42-. The kinetic courses of dye adsorption and catalytic peroxide oxidation were discussed. A combined first-order kinetics model well fitted for photo-Fenton degradation indicated that both the unique surface acid property of solid and visible-light induced electron transfer enhanced catalytic performance. The strong acid sites were the key factor in widening the working pH range to 10.0 and determining the activity of catalysts, which were proved by a high removal rate up to 98% of X-3B even in dark Fenton process.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Zhihong Yang, Guoliang Zhang, and Qin Meng
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2013 Volume 52(Issue 19) pp:6492
Publication Date(Web):April 20, 2013
DOI:10.1021/ie303122u
In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hollow fiber membrane (HFM) was heat-treated by muffle furnace to strengthen the thermal and chemical stability. Membrane morphology with different materials was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has shown that both porosity and pore size decreased with increasing heat treatment time (t = 0.5, 6, 12 h) and temperature (T = 200, 250, 300, and 350 °C). FTIR was used to explore the change of chemical bonds and found that dehydrogenation, cyclization, and cross-linking reactions occurred in thermal treatment. Compared with original PAN membrane, the hydrophobicity of heat-treated membranes was obviously improved. The heat-treated membrane PAN-250-6 (PAN–temperature–duration) was selected and immersed in various boiling solvents for 24 h to test material stability. PAN-250-6 membrane presented excellent thermal and chemical stability especially in strong solvent, N,N-dimethylacetamide (166.1 °C), whereas original PAN membrane was dissolved completely. For comparison, PAN and PAN-250-6 HFMs were further chosen for packing modules, which were used for the distillation of isopropanol–water solution. During 10 days of operation, module PAN-250-6 showed high separation efficiency with comparatively low height of mass transfer unit (HTU) and larger overall mass transfer coefficients in the ranges of 0.1–0.18 m and 2.5–3.2 cm/s respectively. By analyzing the impact of wetting condition on mass transfer, it was found that membrane resistance should be sensitive and attributed more to the change of the overall resistance. The membrane with better hydrophobicity after heat treatment was more conducive to distillation with HFMs. With superior thermal and chemical stability in distillation, this kind of heat-treated hollow fiber structured packing will be promising in future distillation applictions.
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Jiwei Zhang, Ling Wang, Qin Meng, Jinhui Wang
Journal of Membrane Science 2012 389() pp: 532-543
Publication Date(Web):
DOI:10.1016/j.memsci.2011.11.027
Co-reporter:Chong Shen, Qin Meng, Guoliang Zhang
Journal of Membrane Science 2011 Volume 369(1–2) pp:474-481
Publication Date(Web):1 March 2011
DOI:10.1016/j.memsci.2010.12.016
Both hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility of biomaterials are the prerequisite for the application in tissue engineering. Although polyethylene glycol (PEG) has attracted considerable attention for its good hemocompatibility in resisting adsorption of platelets and proteins, so far no report has focused on how to prevent the adsorption of small molecules which is also key characterization of hemocompatibility. Further, PEG is bioinert and usually elicits no cell–surface interactions, which is also the obstacle for application in tissue engineering. In this regard, this paper aimed to improve both hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility of polysulfone (PSU) membrane by grafting PEG. The novel PEG grafted PSU (PSU-g-PEG) membrane fabricated in the experiments held dramatically higher water flux and bovine serum albumin (BSA) permeability than PSU membrane. It also showed low adsorption to small molecular drugs with either hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity, while the PSU membrane adsorbed hydrophobic drugs severely. Moreover, the cytocompatibility of the PSU-g-PEG membrane can be achieved by the regulation of hepatocyte self-assembly. Unlike the nonsurviving cells on PSU membrane, hepatocytes on PSU-g-PEG membrane could self-assemble into small spheroids which maintained cell viability and liver-specific functions within 96 h of culture. The specific hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility of PSU-g-PEG membrane suggest strong potential applicability in tissue engineering as well as in drug investigation in vitro.Research highlights▶ PSU-g-PEG membrane was fabricated with higher permeability than PSU membrane. ▶ PSU-g-PEG membrane showed low adsorption to small molecular drugs. ▶ PSU-g-PEG membrane with cytocompatibility could regulate hepatocyte self-assembly.
Co-reporter:Liangjun Liu, Guoliang Zhang, Ling Wang, Tao Huang, and Lei Qin
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2011 Volume 50(Issue 12) pp:7219-7227
Publication Date(Web):May 11, 2011
DOI:10.1021/ie2005516
Ultrafine Zn–Fe composite oxides have been synthesized by the sol–gel method and then modified by S═O. After preparation, these chalybeate compounds were characterized by BET surface area and porosity analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). The influence of introduced S═O on the performance of ZnFe2O4 catalysts was measured, and the reaction mechanism was investigated. To evaluate the activities of different catalysts, a series of photo-Fenton reactions have been conducted to decontaminate the Reactive Black KN-GR simulated wastewater. Results indicated that the prepared catalysts were porous-material with a high specific surface area of 38 m2 g–1. Significantly, the FT-IR spectrum suggested that sulfated ZnFe2O4 calcinated at 773 K (named S773 catalyst) exhibited a strong acid property and XPS analysis proved the presence of S6+(S═O), which led to the generation of acid sites. Under optimum conditions of 9.8 mM H2O2, 0.5 g L–1 catalyst, and pH = 6.0, up to 90% total organic carbon removal and 100% decolorization of a solution containing 100 mg L–1 Reactive Black KN-GR could be achieved after 150 min of treatment. The kinetics of acid catalysis were also discussed, and the stability of the catalyst was estimated on studying the iron leaching and S773 catalyst recycling.
Co-reporter:Zhihong Yang, Guoliang Zhang, Feini Liu, and Qin Meng
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2010 Volume 49(Issue 22) pp:11594-11601
Publication Date(Web):October 11, 2010
DOI:10.1021/ie100437e
Three kinds of hollow fiber membrane contactors, polyether sulfone (PES), polysulfone (PS), and polypropylene (PP), were applied in IPA/water distillation to check how the material and structure of membranes would affect the performance. The Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) was calculated to analyze the compatibility between polymers and IPA in operation. It was found that a hydrophobic asymmetric microporous membrane coating thin dense layer on the liquid side with good compatibility worked better in the process, while the membrane with interconnected porous morphology was more favorable for decreasing Rm and more sensitive to vapor load, which might worsen operation stability. Even a slight wetting (<20%) of membrane could result in a sharp decrease as high as 70% of the mass transfer across membrane. As before, all self-made modules in distillation could easily operate at a vapor velocity 5−6 times higher than the flooding limits for conventional packings and achieved an attractive low value of the height of transfer umit (HTU) less than 0.1 m, in which PES hollow fibers performed with excellent stability and gained the highest mass transfer coefficient KL in the experiment.
Co-reporter:Zhihong Yang;Lan Lin
Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering 2009 Volume 3( Issue 1) pp:68-72
Publication Date(Web):2009 March
DOI:10.1007/s11705-009-0130-8
The effects of baffles on the operation and mass-transfer characteristics in novel hollow fiber membrane contactor used in distillation were investigated. Hollow fiber membranes, coated with a 7 μm polydimethyl-siloxane, were operated as structural packing in the separation of ethanol-water solutions. The parallel flow mode was chosen for separation due to the stronger driving force of the concentration difference, in which liquid flows through the lumens of the fibers and vapor flows countercurrent-wise outside the fibers. Two baffles were installed on the shell side of the membrane contactors to enhance separation, which had a round shape with a semi-lunar hole. The results show that both baffled and unbaffled membrane contactors gave better, more productive separations than traditional packing in distillation, such as the excellent Sulzer Gauze BX structured packing. The baffled membrane contactors performed better than unbaffled ones, especially at high vapor velocities. The minimal HTU of membrane contactor with baffles could reach as low as 4.5 cm, and almost all the contactors could work well above the limit where flooding normally occurs in conventional cases. Theoretical analysis predicted that baffles helped membrane module to obtain a higher masstransfer coefficient and a smaller mass-transfer resistance. Finally, theoretical mass-transfer coefficient and experimental value were compared as well as the contribution of each individual mass-transfer coefficients among liquid, gas and membrane.
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Lan Lin, Qin Meng, Youyi Xu
Separation and Purification Technology 2007 Volume 56(Issue 2) pp:143-149
Publication Date(Web):15 August 2007
DOI:10.1016/j.seppur.2007.01.016
Non-porous hollow fibers were used as more excellent structured packing over normal packing in the distillation of methanol–water system. Due to their special geometry, a column with hollow fibers could easily work 3–10 times higher above the limit where flooding usually occurs in conventional cases. A small height of transfer units at 8 cm and the overall mass-transfer coefficient Kx based on the liquid-side at 2.3 × 10−5 mol/cm2 s were obtained experimentally. Compared with theoretical estimation from earlier studies, it was found that the liquid side was mostly responsible for the total resistance of mass transfer, which was similar to the conventional distillation process at low concentration, although mass transfer resistance in the membrane and the vapor could not be negligible.
Co-reporter:Feini LIU, Guoliang ZHANG, Qin MENG, Hongzi ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering (June 2008) Volume 16(Issue 3) pp:441-445
Publication Date(Web):1 June 2008
DOI:10.1016/S1004-9541(08)60102-0
The performance of different nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes was studied in treating the toxic metal effluent from metallurgical industry. The characteristics and filtration behavior of the processes including the wastewater flux, salt rejection and ion rejection versus operating pressure were evaluated. Then the wastewater flux of RO membrane was compared with theoretical calculation using mass transfer models, and good consistency was observed. It was found that a high rejection rate more than 95% of metal ions and a low Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) value of 10 mg·L−1 in permeate could be achieved using the RO composite membrane, while the NF rejection of the salt could be up to 78.9% and the COD value in the permeate was 35 mg·L−1. The results showed that the product water by both NF and RO desalination satisfied the State Reutilization Qualification, but NF would be more suitable for large-scale industrial practice, which offered significantly higher permeate flux at low operating pressure.
Co-reporter:Lei Qin, Qiuhua Liu, Qin Meng, Zheng Fan, Jinzhe He, Tao Liu, Chong Shen, Guoliang Zhang
Bioresource Technology (January 2017) Volume 224() pp:
Publication Date(Web):1 January 2017
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.10.067
•PSB were first cultivated by PTO-MBR in succession and on large scale.•PSB/PTO-MBR was successfully applied for high-salinity wastewater treatment.•PTO-MBR took advantages in biomass production and membrane fouling reduction.•PTO-MBR with 12 h light proved to be a promising and economical alternative.In this study, photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) were first harvested by MBR with pendulum type oscillation (PTO) hollow fiber module in succession and on a large scale. Based on unique properties of PSB, PSB/MBR was successfully applied for high-salinity wastewater treatment. Compared with control PSB-MBR (CMBR), PSB/PTO-MBR exhibited more excellent organics removal, which was mainly attributed to much higher biomass production for utilization. Meanwhile, the influence of light irradiation and aeration on activity of PSB was investigated in detail. Results showed that PTO-MBR with 12 h light irradiation proved to be a promising and economical alternative. The cycle of dark/light and anoxic had a positive effect on PSB cultivating. Moreover, PTO-MBR exhibited much higher flux than CMBR even if large amounts of biomass existed, which demonstrated that the strong shear stress on interface of liquid-membrane played important roles on membrane fouling reduction.Download high-res image (240KB)Download full-size image
Co-reporter:Guanghui Wang, Zheng Fan, Dexin Wu, Lei Qin, Guoliang Zhang, Congjie Gao, Qin Meng
Desalination (15 September 2014) Volume 349() pp:136-144
Publication Date(Web):15 September 2014
DOI:10.1016/j.desal.2014.06.030
•Anoxic/aerobic granular active carbon assisted MBR was used for leachate treatment.•Removal efficiency of high-valence metals was more than low-valance ones.•Granular active carbon enhanced flocculation and alleviated membrane fouling.•The color of MBR effluent decreased from 125 to 8 times after NF treatment.•RO effluent can meet the requirement of industrial reutilization very well.Anoxic/aerobic granular active carbon assisted membrane bioreactors (A/O-GAC-MBR) integrated with nanofiltration (NF)–reverse osmosis (RO) were used for leachate treatment of the Taizhou Municipal Landfill plant. In order to investigate the effect of GAC on the performance of MBR, a hybrid MBR with GAC dosed and a conventional MBR were operated in parallel. Two pilot scale MBRs showed excellent and stable removal efficiency with average above 80% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N). It was noticed that the amount of high-valence metal ions were removed more than low-valence ones. By comparison, the addition of GAC not only improved the removal of hazardous organic pollutants and heavy metals, but also enhanced bioflocculation and particle size of flocs, which greatly alleviated membrane fouling. NF and RO membranes were then used for advanced treatment of MBR effluents. NF membrane exhibited excellent color removal rate of 93.75% compared to 41.82% of A/O-MBR. With the advantage of NF pretreatment, RO membrane held a steadier and higher flux as well as salt rejection than other cases reported. The final permeate from RO was proved to exceed related qualification for reutilization and can easily be recycled in industry.Download full-size image
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Lan Lin, Qin Meng, Youyi Xu
Separation and Purification Technology (15 August 2007) Volume 56(Issue 2) pp:143-149
Publication Date(Web):15 August 2007
DOI:10.1016/j.seppur.2007.01.016
Non-porous hollow fibers were used as more excellent structured packing over normal packing in the distillation of methanol–water system. Due to their special geometry, a column with hollow fibers could easily work 3–10 times higher above the limit where flooding usually occurs in conventional cases. A small height of transfer units at 8 cm and the overall mass-transfer coefficient Kx based on the liquid-side at 2.3 × 10−5 mol/cm2 s were obtained experimentally. Compared with theoretical estimation from earlier studies, it was found that the liquid side was mostly responsible for the total resistance of mass transfer, which was similar to the conventional distillation process at low concentration, although mass transfer resistance in the membrane and the vapor could not be negligible.
Co-reporter:Huabing Jiang, Guoliang Zhang, Tao Huang, Jinyuan Chen, Qidong Wang, Qin Meng
Chemical Engineering Journal (1 February 2010) Volume 156(Issue 3) pp:571-577
Publication Date(Web):1 February 2010
DOI:10.1016/j.cej.2009.04.011
Nano-titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst was prepared by acid–sol method using tetrabutyl titanate and ethanol, which appeared to be anatase by XRD analysis. The wastewater containing azo dye acid red B was then subjected to photocatalytic degradation with photocatalyst TiO2 and UV as light source in a slurry photocatalytic membrane reactor, which included a double layer cylindrical photocatalytic reaction zone and a plate frame membrane separation part. Two kinds of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes PVDF700 and PAN700 were applied and the combined process with photocatalysis was operated by a continuous re-circulating mode during treatment. At first, the adsorption characteristic of the titanium dioxide catalyst under different pH values was analyzed and the optimal operation condition of the photocatalytic process was achieved by changing TiO2 dose and initial concentration of the dye. Then the performance of photocatalyst separation process by ultrafiltration (UF) was investigated. It was found that the degradation of acid red B was followed by first-order kinetics and the efficiency of photocatalysis can be evaluated by the initial reaction rate. Finally, the conglomeration and hydrophilizion phenomena by TiO2 in the coupling system and its effect to different ultrafiltration membranes were analyzed.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Yufan Zhang, Pengcheng Su, Zehai Xu, Guoliang Zhang, Chong Shen and Qin Meng
Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2016 - vol. 4(Issue 48) pp:NaN18752-18752
Publication Date(Web):2016/11/17
DOI:10.1039/C6TA09362K
Graphene-based materials offer great potential in gas separation. However, it remains a challenge to control the interlayer structure to obtain membranes with high permeability. We describe a route for the fabrication of metal–organic framework (MOF) channelled graphene composite membranes with molecular sieving properties by in situ crystallization. Based on polar oxygen groups, extended interlayer spacing and electronegativity, MOF nanosheets can easily be impregnated into interlayers of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), which strongly anchor and bolster up rGO by coordination bonds to form a porous architecture with uniform nanochannels. The H2/CO2 selectivity of ZIF-8/rGO membranes reached about 26.4. Moreover, many other MOF materials were also inserted between rGO sheets to obtain membranes with both high selectivity (larger than 10.3) and superior permeability (in the range of 73–21112 barrer).
Co-reporter:Guoliang Zhang, Jiaheng Zhang, Pengcheng Su, Zehai Xu, Wanbin Li, Chong Shen and Qin Meng
Chemical Communications 2017 - vol. 53(Issue 59) pp:NaN8343-8343
Publication Date(Web):2017/06/27
DOI:10.1039/C7CC03409A
Non-activation metal–organic framework (MOF) arrays are directly applied as a coating layer to fabricate a stable superhydrophobic micro/nano flower-like architecture. The MOF functionalized surfaces can be synthesized easily on different substrates without any activation procedure or modification by low free energy materials, which exhibit attractive performance in oil/water separation.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Zhihong Yang, Guoliang Zhang, Zheng Fan, Qin Meng, Chong Shen and Congjie Gao
Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2014 - vol. 2(Issue 7) pp:NaN2118-2118
Publication Date(Web):2013/11/12
DOI:10.1039/C3TA13781C
Metal–organic framework (MOF) membranes used for gas separation have attracted considerable attention recently. Although there are studies focusing on their continuous growth on inorganic substrates, MOF–polymer membranes are in demand because of their low cost, high processing ability and large membrane area. To achieve this purpose, the flexibility of the polymer must be reduced and the MOF-to-substrate adhesion strength should be greatly enhanced. Herein, a continuous and well inter-grown Cu3(BTC)2–PAN composite membrane has been successfully fabricated by directly growing via a covalent linker. Dehydrogenation, cyclization and crosslinking reactions of the PAN hollow fiber by solvothermal treatment can greatly improve the stiffness and compression strength of the composite membrane. To increase the adhesion strength effectively, a covalent linker between the MOF layer and PAN substrate is provided by chemical modification. The prepared membrane achieves a high H2 permeance of 7.05 × 10−5 mol (m−2 s−1 Pa−1) and a good separation factor of 7.14 for binary H2–CO2 mixtures with high thermal and pressure stability. Our strategy has also been developed for preparing a continuous and well inter-grown ZIF-8–PAN membrane. A very thin ZIF-8 layer is finally synthesized due to the large number of nucleation sites on the substrate. All of these distinguished properties suggest that MOF–PAN composite membranes fabricated by chemical modification are promising candidates for gas separation.
Co-reporter:Lei Qin, Zhaowen Li, Qiong Hu, Zehai Xu, Xinwen Guo and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2016 - vol. 52(Issue 44) pp:NaN7113-7113
Publication Date(Web):2016/05/03
DOI:10.1039/C6CC02453J
A one-pot organic-acid-directed post-synthetic modification allows molecular iron/citric acid complexes to be anchored into amine-functionalized MOFs by a simple and rapid liquid spraying method. Amidation between organic acid and –NH2 groups of ligands can lead to more small nanoparticles (NPs) that are well-dispersed into MOFs and exhibit high activity for photocatalytic H2O2 splitting.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Guoliang Zhang, Congyang Zhang, Qin Meng, Zheng Fan and Congjie Gao
Chemical Communications 2014 - vol. 50(Issue 24) pp:NaN3216-3216
Publication Date(Web):2014/02/03
DOI:10.1039/C3CC49815H
Mixed-matrix membranes and MOF layer membranes were integrated to synthesize novel trinity MOF membranes by using different substrates such as polymeric hollow fiber membranes. The trinity membranes exhibited excellent performance for both H2/CO2 and N2/CO2 separation.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Qin Meng, Xiaonian Li, Congyang Zhang, Zheng Fan and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2014 - vol. 50(Issue 68) pp:NaN9713-9713
Publication Date(Web):2014/06/19
DOI:10.1039/C4CC03864A
A non-activation (NA) ZnO array is directly grown on a PVDF hollow fiber membrane. The defect-free MOF layers can be synthesized easily on the NA-ZnO array without any activation procedure. The array and MOF layers are strongly adhered to the hollow fiber membrane. The prepared ZIF membranes exhibit excellent gas separation performances.
Co-reporter:Wanbin Li, Yufan Zhang, Zehai Xu, Asang Yang, Qin Meng and Guoliang Zhang
Chemical Communications 2014 - vol. 50(Issue 100) pp:NaN15869-15869
Publication Date(Web):2014/10/30
DOI:10.1039/C4CC07734B
GO microcapsules were assembled on the surface of atomized droplets prepared by a spray-drying strategy. The nanochannels in the microcapsule wall can be adjusted by water-soluble polymers and make the microcapsule exhibit sustained release. The strategy can further be employed to encapsulate metal organic frameworks to obtain MOF–GO yolk–shell superstructures.
Co-reporter:Pengcheng Su, Wanbin Li, Congyang Zhang, Qin Meng, Chong Shen and Guoliang Zhang
Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2015 - vol. 3(Issue 40) pp:NaN20351-20351
Publication Date(Web):2015/08/27
DOI:10.1039/C5TA04400F
Great advances have been made in metal–organic framework membranes recently. However, preparation of stiff and integrated MOF/polymer membranes still remains a big issue. Herein, metal based gels as versatile precursors were first employed to prepare continuous and integrated MOF/polymer hollow fiber membranes. The metal based gel was put into/on various polymer substrates adequately, which can be transformed into pure MOF crystals and lead to formation of continuous MOF crystals on the surface and in the pores of the hollow fiber easily. By using this method, we can not only fabricate continuous MOF membranes without a conventional activation step but also can greatly enhance the stiffness of the membranes through mutual support of MOFs and substrates. The strategy also has an appropriate level of generality which can be used for preparation of inter-grown MOF membranes on different kinds of substrates. The prepared membranes exhibited excellent gas separation performance with a H2/N2 separation factor as high as 22.7.
