Researchers have created a handy membrane that can effectively treat wastewater from the paper and textile industries1.
The multilayer membrane, made out of chitosan and polystyrene sulfonate provides a better technological solution than conventional membranes used to treat wastewater in these industries.
The membrane was made out of layers of chitosan, a substance found in insects, and the polymer material. The membrane was found to be very effective in removing the foul colour from wastewater as also the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of its effluents.
The COD values went down by 88% and around 70% for paper and textile effluents respectively. Optimum efficiency was seen for the textile effluents around neutral and low pH regions.
