Removal of micropollutants from water by nanocomposite membrane adsorbers

•Nanocomposite membrane adsorbers with different chemical functionalities.•Simultaneous adsorption of a hydrophobic compound and a charged compound.•The regeneration of the membrane adsorber is possible by a pH shift.•Multiple use without significant loss of adsorption capacity after regeneration. Nanoscaled spheric polymer adsorbers with a variety of chemical surface functionalities were synthesized by miniemulsion polymerization and inverse miniemulsion polymerization. The nanospheres were embedded in polyethersulfone (PES) matrices by a wet-phase inversion process to form nanocomposite membrane adsorbers. The resulting membrane adsorbers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pore size measurements, water flux measurements and various adsorption experiments. The membranes can be classified as microfiltration membranes and have the additional capability to adsorb substances with various physico-chemical properties. The capability to adsorb compounds with various physico-chemical properties is implemented by embedding different nanoscaled adsorbers specific against the target molecules. In this work the target molecules bisphenol A, a hydrophobic compound, and penicillin G (potassium salt), a charged molecule, were adsorbed together on one membrane. The nanocomposite membrane adsorber concept allows the adaption of membrane properties to a given separation task by an adjustment of the amount and the proportion of various selective particles.