Studies in Synthesis of Nano-Zinc Oxide Mixed Pvc Matrix Membrane and its Application for Ibuprofen Drug Removal

The present study performed pharmaceutical drug such Ibuprofen (IBP) separation by novel nano-Zinc oxide (ZnO) mixed PVC matrix membrane. The study represents an attempt to the synergistic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticle due to its catalytic nature and versatile PVC as polymeric membrane material to fabricate desired membrane for improving IBP removal considering hazardous environmental impacts of ibuprofen on aquatic as well as human life. The ZnO nanoparticles produced by novel sono-chemical precipitation method were confirmed by HRTEM analysis. The nano-ZnO mixed PVC membrane was prepared by phase inversion method using water as the non-solvent, N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as the solvent and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6 kDa as the pore forming agent. Membrane properties such as water uptake and contact angle, resistance estimation was also measured. The characterization Techniques such as FTIR, FESEM, FESEM-EDX were used to characterize zinc oxide and blended membranes to examine structural and functional groups. The effects of pH and transmembrane pressure and IBP concentration on IBP removal were taken into account to optimize membrane performance.1% nano-Zinc oxide mixed PVC membrane showed better flux recovery ratio 89%, IBP removal of about 67% among other modified membrane.