Zwitterion–MOF Functional Interface Enabling Robust Ion and Dye Rejection in Water Filtration
Zhengis A. Ospanova A. Amrenova Y. Askar P. Aldongarov A. Karibayev M. Aliyev A. Abutalip M. Nuraje N.
26 November 2025American Chemical Society
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
2025#17Issue 4765048 - 65062 pp.
The effective removal of toxic heavy metals and synthetic dyes from wastewater remains a critical challenge in environmental remediation. In this study, we present a hierarchically engineered nanocomposite membrane that integrates zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA) into a polyacrylonitrile–polyvinylpyrrolidone (PAN-PVP) matrix. The membrane exhibits a high pure water flux of 71.96 L·m–2 ·h–1 and strong rejection efficiencies for cadmium (95.6%), copper (93.3%), and lead (97.8%) ions as well as methyl orange (98.9%) and methylene blue (98.4%) across different pH conditions. Importantly, the membrane retained ∼93% of its performance after 10 continuous cycles, underscoring its durability. A combination of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and zeta potential measurements confirmed the successful integration and chemical stability of ZIF-8 and SBMA within the membrane. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) and classical all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to gain molecular-level insights into structural features and intermolecular interactions between contaminants and the ZIF-8/SBMA membrane system. This work introduces a tunable and scalable membrane platform with high flux, selectivity, and robustness, offering both mechanistic insights and practical applications for advanced water purification technologies targeting a wide range of contaminants.
dye rejection , heavy metal removal , membrane filtration , sulfobetaine methacrylate , ZIF-8 , zwitterionic materials
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Laboratory of Renewable Energy, National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 Al-Farabi Avenue, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Satbayev University, 22 Satbaev Street, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Department of Technical Physics, Eurasian National University, 13 Kazhymukan Street, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
TEQNOVATE LLC, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Renewable Energy
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Department of Technical Physics
TEQNOVATE LLC
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026