TY - JOUR
T1 - Removal of ketoprofen and propranolol in an ultrafiltration-MXene (Ti₃C₂/V₂C) hybrid system
AU - Kim, Yurim
AU - Jung, Bongyeon
AU - Park, Chanhyuk
AU - Park, Chang Min
AU - Jang, Min
AU - Jun, Byung Moon
AU - Yoon, Yeomin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2025/10/15
Y1 - 2025/10/15
N2 - MXenes, known for their high stability and large specific surface areas, have been extensively studied as effective nano-adsorbents. This study investigated the removal of contaminants of emerging concern, ketoprofen (KP) and propranolol (PRP), using an ultrafiltration (UF)-MXene hybrid system. A comparative analysis of the pre-adsorption and non-pre-adsorption configurations was conducted, leading to the selection of the non-pre-adsorption system because of its relatively high flux and decent retention. In this study, single-layered Ti₃C₂ (SL-Ti₃C₂), the most widely used MXene, and multi-layered V₂C MXene (ML-V₂C), which has been rarely explored, were incorporated into the hybrid system. A comparative evaluation was conducted among three systems: UF only, UF + ML-V₂C, and UF + SL-Ti₃C₂. The removal efficiencies of KP using UF only, UF + ML-V₂C, and UF + SL-Ti₃C₂ were 4.04 %, 8.03 %, and 3.34 %, respectively, indicating no significant improvement in KP removal across the three systems. However, the UF + SL-Ti₃C₂ hybrid system exhibited a significantly higher PRP average removal efficiency (58.0 %) compared to UF only (9.55 %) and UF + ML-V₂C (13.5 %). While no significant differences in the normalized flux at a volume concentration factor of 10 (recovery = 90 %) were observed between the UF only (0.913) and UF-MXene hybrid systems (0.833) at pH 7, the normalized flux of the hybrid system (0.933) was notably higher than that of the UF system (0.709) under acidic conditions (pH 3.5). Adsorption experiments were conducted to elucidate the removal mechanisms under different pH conditions, demonstrating that electrostatic interactions play a dominant role in contaminant removal by MXene.
AB - MXenes, known for their high stability and large specific surface areas, have been extensively studied as effective nano-adsorbents. This study investigated the removal of contaminants of emerging concern, ketoprofen (KP) and propranolol (PRP), using an ultrafiltration (UF)-MXene hybrid system. A comparative analysis of the pre-adsorption and non-pre-adsorption configurations was conducted, leading to the selection of the non-pre-adsorption system because of its relatively high flux and decent retention. In this study, single-layered Ti₃C₂ (SL-Ti₃C₂), the most widely used MXene, and multi-layered V₂C MXene (ML-V₂C), which has been rarely explored, were incorporated into the hybrid system. A comparative evaluation was conducted among three systems: UF only, UF + ML-V₂C, and UF + SL-Ti₃C₂. The removal efficiencies of KP using UF only, UF + ML-V₂C, and UF + SL-Ti₃C₂ were 4.04 %, 8.03 %, and 3.34 %, respectively, indicating no significant improvement in KP removal across the three systems. However, the UF + SL-Ti₃C₂ hybrid system exhibited a significantly higher PRP average removal efficiency (58.0 %) compared to UF only (9.55 %) and UF + ML-V₂C (13.5 %). While no significant differences in the normalized flux at a volume concentration factor of 10 (recovery = 90 %) were observed between the UF only (0.913) and UF-MXene hybrid systems (0.833) at pH 7, the normalized flux of the hybrid system (0.933) was notably higher than that of the UF system (0.709) under acidic conditions (pH 3.5). Adsorption experiments were conducted to elucidate the removal mechanisms under different pH conditions, demonstrating that electrostatic interactions play a dominant role in contaminant removal by MXene.
KW - Adsorption-ultrafiltration hybrid
KW - MXene
KW - Membrane fouling
KW - Pharmaceuticals
KW - Water treatment
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007300535
U2 - 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119088
DO - 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105007300535
SN - 0011-9164
VL - 613
JO - Desalination
JF - Desalination
M1 - 119088
ER -