Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-26-2025
Abstract
Efficient water decolorization techniques are vital for ensuring fresh water for future generations. Azo dyes are used heavily in the textile industry and are a challenge to remove from industrial wastewater. This research expands on recent innovative work where anionic azo dyes themselves were used to functionalize track-etched porous polycarbonate filtration membranes with decolorized water obtained as a byproduct. The objective of this research is to determine whether the observed dye rejection is dependent on the magnitude of the intrinsic charge of the dye molecule or on its structure, using two selectively chosen anionic azo dye series during functionalization. The first group is a negative two intrinsic charge series with six dyes, each differing in structure, and the second group is a five-dye series that increases from −1 to −6 in intrinsic charge. Rejection measurements as a function of both time and concentration during functionalization are made using ultraviolet-visible light spectroscopy. For 100 µM aqueous dyes, comparing pre- and post-functionalization, a systematically increasing trend in the ability to functionalize porous polycarbonate based on the number of double 6-carbon ring structures in the dyes is illustrated and found to be independent of intrinsic charge.
Recommended Citation
Messinger, A.J.; Mays, I.S.; Craigo, B.; Joering, J.; McBride, S.P. Anionic Azo Dyes: Wastewater Pollutants as Functionalizing Agents for Porous Polycarbonate Membranes Aiding in Water Decolorization. Sustainability 2025, 17, 7696. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17177696
Figures S1 - S7
Comments
The copy of record is available from the publisher at https://doi.org/10.3390/su17177696. Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).