ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Valorisation of eggplant waste biomass as a green additive in PAN-based biocomposite membranes for methyl dyes removal from wastewater

Bakr M. Ibraheem, Eman H. Khader, Ali H. Khalbas, and Omer A. Thamer

College of Chemical Engineering, University of Technology-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq

E-mail: Ali.H.Khalbas@uotechnology.edu.iq

Received: 9 October 2025  Accepted: 17 February 2026

Abstract:

The discharge of wastewater contaminated with methyl dyes represents a serious environmental challenge due to their high toxicity, persistence, and resistance to conventional treatment methods. To address this issue, this study presents the synthesis of a biocomposite membrane based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) incorporated with green additives derived from eggplant waste (EPW) biomass. The membrane was fabricated by the phase-inversion method, varying the EPW concentration from 0 to 1.5 wt%. These fabricated membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), surface hydrophilicity, porosity, and water content uptake. The results indicated that the PAN membrane with 0.5 wt%EPW exhibited the highest water permeation flux of 204.8 L/m².h at 200 kPa, compared to only 136.5 L/m².h in the case of the pristine membrane. This was attributed to the lower water contact angle (44.23°) and high porosity (80.64%) achieved by the addition of the hydrophilic functional groups presented in the EPW. In addition, the modified membranes exhibited a remarkable increase in the rejection rates of both cationic and anionic dyes, with high removal efficiencies of 99.73, 99.16, 99.08, and 81.46% for methyl violet, methyl blue, methyl orange, and methyl red, respectively. Furthermore, the modified membranes showed higher flux recovery efficiencies and dye permeation fluxes compared to pristine membranes. The findings demonstrate that incorporating EPW particles successfully achieves beneficial synergy in membrane performance and selectivity, positioning them as promising eco-friendly particles for wastewater treatment applications.

Keywords: Polyacrylonitrile; Eggplant waste; Bio-mass; Bio-composite membrane; Methyl dyes removal

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-026-04749-x

Chemical Papers 80 (6) 6059–6081 (2026)