Preparation of a cellulose acetate membrane using cigarette butt recycling and investigation of its efficiency in removing heavy metals from aqueous solution

This study investigated the recycling of freshly-smoked cigarette butts (FCBs) and unsmoked cigarette filters (UCFs) into a cellulose acetate (CA) membrane. The both samples were prepared by means of a combination of seven cigarette brands, and the phase inversion method was used to recycle each sample into a membrane using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone. The efficiency of the prepared membranes for the removal of chromium, cadmium, and lead from an aqueous solution in a forward osmosis reactor was investigated. The results showed that the both membranes had a smooth surface and macrovoids. The flux of the prepared membranes from the UCFs and FCBs recycling were 14.8 and 13.2 LMH, respectively. The porosity and reverse salt of the UCFs membrane were 61% and 3.5 gMH, while those for FCBs membrane were 58% and 3.9 gMH. The observed metal removal efficiency of the both membranes was in the range of 85 to 90%. However, increasing the concentration of metals up to five times caused a slight decrease in the removal efficiency (less than 5%).