Cross‐Flow Filtration as a Green Process for the Removal of Tartrazine

ABSTRACT In recent years, the reduction of water reserves has highlighted the processes related to obtaining high‐quality water. For this aim, membrane processes have gained significant attention regarding sustainability and energy savings. In this study, the cross‐flow filtration (CFF) process, as a green process, was used to remove tartrazine (E‐102), an anionic dye, from aqueous solutions. For this aim, cellulose‐supported alginate (Alg‐CS), cellulose‐supported alginate‐aluminum oxide (Alg‐CS/Al 2 O 3 ), and cellulose‐supported alginate‐graphite (Alg‐CS/C) composite membranes were prepared. Characterization of the membranes was performed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and contact angle (CA) measurements. The effects of the amount of Al 2 O 3 and C on the removal efficiency of the composite membranes were deeply examined. At the end of the study, it was determined that the presence of Al 2 O 3 and C enhanced the removal tendency of the cellulose‐supported alginate membranes, and the maximum tartrazine removal efficiency as a recovery percentage (R%) was found to be 91.9% at a pH of 3.5 for the Alg‐CS/Al 2 O 3 membranes containing 7 g of Al 2 O 3 , and 87% at a pH of 1.5 for the Alg‐CS/C membranes containing 0.5 g of C.