Cucurbitacin E Glucoside-Infused Nanoparticle Membranes for Heavy Metal Removal

Human life depends on clean water, but even very low levels of heavy metals in water can have negative impacts on both people and the environment, such as increased mortality rates for living things and pollution of the environment. In this study, nanostructure membranes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) blended with Cucurbitacin E glucoside (CEG-NPs) with different compositions (CM2, CM3, and CM4) were prepared, characterized, and used for the removal of heavy metals such as Cu+2, Pb+2, and Ni+2. The synthesized membrane was characterized and verified by H-NMR analysis, SEM, EDX, FTIR, and UV-visible absorption spectra. The results obtained by the synthesized blended membranes showed that CM3 with 0.5 g cucurbitacin E glucoside has a promising performance and has the highest metal removal efficiency, with rejection percentages for Pb+2, Ni+2, and Cu+2 reaching 97.6%, 96.4%, and 91.3%, respectively. The rejection flux for this membrane was the highest with an LMH value of 114.12 LMH.