There is a scientific consensus that the use of membranes for water filtration presents itself as a promising research area for removing a wide range of sedimentary and biological origin pollutants. In this context, non-biodegradable membranes have been widely used; however, they can potentially cause severe environmental problems during their life cycle, after use, at the disposal phase. Thus, biodegradable materials have arisen as new materials for membrane production. This work aimed to develop biodegradable poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) based membranes and evaluate the effect of different porogens (polysorbate 80, glucose, sodium chloride, and sodium acetate) on the pore size formation and distribution. The combination evaporation-induced phase separation/non-solvent phase separation (EIPS/NIPS) processes were used to obtain the membranes with porous network structure. Membranes were evaluated by visual aspect, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and mechanical essays. The porogen selection also relied on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) within a "cradle-to-gate" approach and their contributions to the global PBAT-based membranes’ environmental impact. Statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of concentration and type of porogen agent employed, indicating the membrane’s potential to retain Escherichia coli (E. coli), chosen as the model microorganism. Sodium chloride and sodium acetate proved to be the most suitable porogens for the intended application, with sodium chloride presenting the best environmental performance. We highlight the potential to extend these PBAT-based membranes to other bacteria, some protozoa, virus species, and suspended particles’ retention.

Graphic Abstract

中文翻译：

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使用 Porogen 饱和溶液的基于 PBAT 的微滤膜：结构、形态和环境特征

科学界一致认为，使用膜进行水过滤是去除各种沉积和生物源污染物的有前途的研究领域。在这方面，不可生物降解的膜已被广泛使用；然而，它们可能会在其生命周期、使用后和处置阶段造成严重的环境问题。因此，可生物降解材料已成为用于膜生产的新材料。这项工作旨在开发可生物降解的聚（己二酸丁二醇酯-共对苯二甲酸酯）（PBAT）膜，并评估不同致孔剂（聚山梨醇酯 80、葡萄糖、氯化钠和乙酸钠）对孔径形成和分布的影响。采用蒸发诱导相分离/非溶剂相分离（EIPS/NIPS）组合工艺获得具有多孔网络结构的膜。通过目视、傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR)、扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、热重分析 (TGA) 和机械测试对膜进行评估。致孔剂的选择还依赖于“从摇篮到门”方法中的生命周期评估 (LCA) 及其对全球基于 PBAT 的膜的环境影响的贡献。进行了统计分析以评估所用致孔剂的浓度和类型的影响，表明膜的保留潜力 扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、热重分析 (TGA) 和机械论文。致孔剂的选择还依赖于“从摇篮到门”方法中的生命周期评估 (LCA) 及其对全球基于 PBAT 的膜的环境影响的贡献。进行了统计分析以评估所用致孔剂的浓度和类型的影响，表明膜的保留潜力 扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、热重分析 (TGA) 和机械论文。致孔剂的选择还依赖于“从摇篮到门”方法中的生命周期评估 (LCA) 及其对全球基于 PBAT 的膜的环境影响的贡献。进行了统计分析以评估所用致孔剂的浓度和类型的影响，表明膜的保留潜力选择大肠杆菌（E.coli）作为模型微生物。氯化钠和醋酸钠被证明是最适合预期应用的致孔剂，其中氯化钠具有最佳的环境性能。我们强调了将这些基于 PBAT 的膜扩展到其他细菌、一些原生动物、病毒种类和悬浮颗粒保留的潜力。

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