IMPACTS OF HYDROPHILIC NANOFILLERS ON SEPARATION PERFORMANCE OF THIN FILM NANOCOMPOSITE REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANE

The membrane technology is still considered a costly method to produce potable water. In view of this, RO membrane with enhanced water permeability without trade-off in salt rejection is desirable as it could further reduce the cost for water desalination. In this study, thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes containing 0.05 or 0.10 w/v% hydrophilic nanofillers in polyamide layer were synthesized via interfacial polymerization of piperazine and trimesoyl chloride monomers. The resultant TFN membranes were characterized and compared with a control thin film composite (TFC) membrane. Results from the filtration experiments showed that TFN membranes exhibited higher water permeability, salt rejection and fouling resistance compared to that of the TFC membrane. Excessive amount of nanofillers incorporated in the membrane PA layer however negatively affected the cross-linking in the polymer matrix, thus deteriorating the membrane salt rejection. TFN membrane containing 0.05 w/v% of nanofillers showed better performances than the TFC membrane, recording a pure water flux of 11.2 L/m2∙h, and salt rejection of 95.4%, 97.3% and 97.5% against NaCl, Na2SO4 and MgSO4, respectively.

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Enhancing the performance of thin-film nanocomposite nanofiltration membranes using MAH-modified GO nanosheets

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c7ra11550d ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (86) ◽

pp. 54898-54910 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Quanling Xie ◽

Wenyao Shao ◽

Shishen Zhang ◽

Zhuan Hong ◽

Qiuquan Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Graphene Oxide ◽

Maleic Anhydride ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Water Flux ◽

Functionalized Graphene ◽

Nanofiltration Membranes ◽

Functionalized Graphene Oxide ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Thin Film Nanocomposite

In this work, novel thin-film nanocompostie NF membranes were developed through modification with maleic anhydride functionalized graphene oxideviainterfacial polymerization, which showed the enhanced water flux with retaining high salt rejection.

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Incorporation of layered double nanomaterials in thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane for magnesium sulphate removal

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20183402003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 02003 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Muhammad Hanis Tajuddin ◽

Norhaniza Yusof ◽

Wan Norharyati Wan Salleh ◽

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail ◽

Nur Hanis Hayati Hairom ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Magnesium Sulphate ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Membrane Surface ◽

Water Flux ◽

Morphological Structure ◽

Separation Performance ◽

Surface Hydrophilicity ◽

Double Hydroxides ◽

Thin Film Nanocomposite

Thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with copper-aluminium layered double hydroxides (LDH) incorporated into polyamide (PA) selective layer has been prepared for magnesium sulphate salt removal. 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 wt% of LDH were dispersed in the trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in n-hexane as organic solution and embedded into PA layer during interfacial polymerization with piperazine. The fabricated membranes were further characterized to evaluate its morphological structure and membrane surface hydrophilicity. The TFN membranes performance were evaluated with divalent salt magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) removal and compared with thin film composite (TFC). The morphological structures of TFN membranes were altered and the surface hydrophilicity were enhanced with addition of LDH. Incorporation of LDH has improved the permeate water flux by 82.5% compared to that of TFC membrane with satisfactory rejection of MgSO4. This study has experimentally validated the potential of LDH to improve the divalent salt separation performance for TFN membranes.

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Innovative Nanostructured Membranes for Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination

University of the Future: Re-Imagining Research and Higher Education ◽

10.29117/quarfe.2020.0023 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Haleema Saleem ◽

Syed Javaid Zaidi

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Separation Efficiency ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Water Flux ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Selective Layer ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Membrane Performance ◽

Tfc Membrane ◽

Ro Membrane

Reverse osmosis (RO) is considered as the most widely utilized technique worldwide for water treatment. However, the commercial thin-film composite (TFC) membranes, which are normally made of polyamide (PA) through interfacial polymerization (IP), still experience certain major issues in performance and fabrication. The spin assisted layer-by-layer (SA-LbL) technique was established for overcoming some drawbacks with commercially available PA membranes. Also, recent investigations have recognized the nanoparticle inclusion into the selective layer as a powerful technique for improving the membrane efficiency. Hence, two different methodologies are presented here to improve the membrane performance, i.e., (1) SA-LbL technique to fabricate TFC membrane by the deposition of alternate ultrathin layers of different polyelectrolytes on polysulfone (PSF) commercial ultrafiltration membrane and (2) the nanoclay incorporation into the membranes during IP process to develop TFC membrane. Two types of nanoclays, cloisite (CS)-15A and montmorillonite (MNT), were incorporated to enhance the separation efficiency. This SA-LbL is an innovative method for the RO membrane manufacture, and has not been described earlier to the best of our knowledge. In addition, this work validated for the first time, the efficiency of the two nanoclays at the PA selective layer in the RO membrane. The membrane performance was evaluated using sodium chloride solution in a cross-flow permeation-testing cell for salt rejection and water flux. The results show significant improvement in water flux and salt rejection. The permeation test of 120 bilayers of poly (allylaminehydrochloride)/poly (vinylsulfate) on PSF substrate showed water flux of 37 L/ (m2.h) and salt rejection of 53%, for a 2000-ppm salt solution feed. The highest water flux of 40 L/m2.h with 80% salt rejection, relative to the control membrane was obtained for the membranes containing nanoclays at 25oC temperature, 40.0 bar pressure and 2000 ppm feed concentration. Thus, our study demonstrated that these TFC membranes are promising, and these novel fabrication techniques are great tool to manufacture the RO membrane.

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A Novel Thin-Film Nanocomposite Nanofiltration Membrane by Incorporating 3D Hyperbranched Polymer Functionalized 2D Graphene Oxide

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym10111253 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1253 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Quanling Xie ◽

Shishen Zhang ◽

Hanjun Ma ◽

Wenyao Shao ◽

Xiao Gong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Graphene Oxide ◽

Hyperbranched Polymer ◽

High Performance ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Water Flux ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Antifouling Ability ◽

Thin Film Nanocomposite

In order to develop a high-performance thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration (NF) membrane, the functionalized graphene-based nanomaterial (GO-HBE-COOH) was synthesized by combining two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) with a three-dimensional hyperbranched polymer, which was used as the novel nanofiller and successfully embedded into the polypiperazine-amide (PPA) active layers on polysulfone (PSU) substrates via interfacial polymerization (IP) process. The resultant NF membranes were characterized using ATR-FTIR, SEM, and AFM, while their performance was evaluated in terms of water flux, salt rejection, antifouling ability, and chlorine resistance. The influence of GO-HBE-COOH concentration on the morphologies, properties, and performance of TFN NF membranes was investigated. With the addition of 60 ppm GO-HBE-COOH, the TFN-GHC-60 NF membrane exhibited the optimal water flux without a sacrifice of the salt rejection. It was found that the introduction of GO-HBE-COOH nanosheets favored the formation of a thinner and smoother nanocomposite active layer with an enhanced hydrophilicity and negative charge. As a result, TFN NF membranes demonstrated a superior permeaselectivity, antifouling ability, and chlorine resistance over the conventional PPA thin-film composite (TFC) membranes.

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Preparation of TFC Membranes Supported with Elelctrospun Nanofibers for Desalination by Forward Osmosis

10.5194/dwes-2020-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mustafa Al-Furaiji ◽

Mohammed Kadhom ◽

Khairi Kalash ◽

Basma Waisi ◽

Noor Albayati

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Water Flux ◽

Applied Pressure ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Electrospinning Process ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Polymerization Reaction ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Tfc Membrane

Abstract. Forward osmosis (FO) process has been considered as a viable option for water desalination in comparison to the traditional processes like reverse osmosis regarding the energy consumption and economical operation. In this work, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber support layer was prepared using electrospinning process as a modern method. Then, an interfacial polymerization reaction between m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) was carried out to generate a polyamide selective thin film composite (TFC) membrane on the support layer. The TFC membrane was tested in FO mode (feed solution facing the active layer) using standard methodology and compared to a commercially available cellulose triacetate membrane (CTA). The synthesized membrane showed a high performance in terms of water flux (16 L m−2 h−1) but traded the salt rejection (4 g m−2 h−1) comparing with the commercially CTA membrane (water flux = 13 L m−2 h−1 and salt rejection = 3 g m−2 h−1) at no applied pressure and room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, mechanical properties, porosity, and performance characterizations were conducted to examine the membrane.

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Facile Fabrication of High-Performance Thin Film Nanocomposite Desalination Membranes Imbedded with Alkyl Group-Capped Silica Nanoparticles

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12061415 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1415

Author(s):

Biqin Wu ◽

Shuhao Wang ◽

Jian Wang ◽

Xiaoxiao Song ◽

Yong Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Silica Nanoparticles ◽

Brackish Water ◽

Alkyl Group ◽

High Performance ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Water Flux ◽

Water Desalination ◽

High Concentration ◽

Thin Film Nanocomposite

The advantages of thin film nanocomposite reverse osmosis (TFN-RO) membranes have been demonstrated by numerous studies within the last decade. This study proposes a facile and novel method to tune the microscale and nanoscale structures, which has good potential to fabricate high-performance TFN-RO membranes. This method involves the addition of alkyl capped silica nanoparticles (alkyl-silica NPs) into the organic phase during interfacial polymerization (IP). We discovered for the first time that the high concentration alkyl-silica NPs in organic solvent isopar-G can limit the diffusion of MPD molecules at the interface, therefore shaping the intrinsic thickness and microstructures of the PA layer. Moreover, the alkyl group modification greatly reduces the NPs agglomeration and increases the compatibility between the NPs and the PA matrix. We further demonstrate that the doping of alkyl-silica NPs impacts the performance of the TFN-RO membrane by affecting intrinsic thickness, higher surface area, hydrophobic plugging effect, and higher surface charge by a series of characterization. At brackish water desalination conditions (2000 ppm NaCl, 1.55 MPa), the optimal brackish water flux was 55.3 L/m2∙h, and the rejection was maintained at 99.6%, or even exceeded this baseline. At seawater desalination conditions (32,000 ppm NaCl, 5.5 MPa), the optimized seawater flux reached 67.7 L/m2∙h, and the rejection was sustained at 99.4%. Moreover, the boron rejection was elevated by 11%, which benefits from a hydrophobic plugging effect of the alkyl groups.

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Enhancing H2O2 Tolerance and Separation Performance through the Modification of the Polyamide Layer of a Thin-Film Composite Nanofiltration Membrane by Using Graphene

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes11080592 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 592

Author(s):

Yi-Li Lin ◽

Nai-Yun Zheng ◽

Yu-Shen Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Water Permeability ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Membrane Surface ◽

Separation Performance ◽

Nanofiltration Membrane ◽

Permeate Flux ◽

Film Composite ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Thin Film Composite

Through interfacial polymerization (IP), a polyamide (PA) layer was synthesized on the top of a commercialized polysulfone substrate to form a thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membrane. Graphene oxide (GO) was dosed during the IP process to modify the NF membrane, termed TFC-GO, to enhance oxidant resistance and membrane performance. TFC-GO exhibited increased surface hydrophilicity, water permeability, salt rejection, removal efficiency of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), and H2O2 resistance compared with TFC. When H2O2 exposure was 0–96000 ppm-h, the surfaces of the TFC and TFC-GO membranes were damaged, and swelling was observed using scanning electron microscopy. However, the permeate flux of TFC-GO remained stable, with significantly higher NaCl, MgSO4, and PPCP rejection with increasing H2O2 exposure intensity than TFC, which exhibited a 3.5-fold flux increase with an approximate 50% decrease in salt and PPCP rejection. GO incorporated into a PA layer could react with oxidants to mitigate membrane surface damage and increase the negative charge on the membrane surface, resulting in the enhancement of the electrostatic repulsion of negatively charged PPCPs. This hypothesis was confirmed by the significant decrease in PPCP adsorption onto the surface of TFC-GO compared with TFC. Therefore, TFC-GO membranes exhibited superior water permeability, salt rejection, and PPCP rejection and satisfactory resistance to H2O2, indicating its great potential for practical applications.

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Constructing Positively Charged Thin-Film Nanocomposite Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Performance

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12112526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 2526

Author(s):

Wenyao Shao ◽

Chenran Liu ◽

Tong Yu ◽

Ying Xiong ◽

Zhuan Hong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Heavy Metal ◽

Water Flux ◽

Water Contact ◽

Salt Rejection ◽

Thin Film Composite ◽

Charged Surfaces ◽

Active Layers ◽

Positively Charged ◽

Thin Film Nanocomposite

Using polyethylenimine (PEI) as the aqueous reactive monomers, a positively charged thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration (NF) membrane with enhanced performance was developed by successfully incorporating graphene oxide (GO) into the active layer. The effects of GO concentrations on the surface roughness, water contact angle, water flux, salt rejection, heavy metal removals, antifouling property, and chlorine resistance of the TFN membranes were evaluated in depth. The addition of 20 ppm GO facilitated the formation of thin, smooth, and hydrophilic nanocomposite active layers. Thus, the TFN-PEI-GO-20 membrane showed the optimal water flux of 70.3 L·m−2·h−1 without a loss of salt rejection, which was 36.8% higher than the thin-film composite (TFC) blank membrane. More importantly, owing to the positively charged surfaces, both the TFC-PEI-blank and TFN-PEI-GO membranes exhibited excellent rejections toward various heavy metal ions including Zn2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Pb2+. Additionally, compared with the negatively charged polypiperazine amide NF membrane, both the TFC-PEI-blank and TFN-PEI-GO-20 membranes demonstrated superior antifouling performance toward the cationic surfactants and basic protein due to their hydrophilic, smooth, and positively charged surface. Moreover, the TFN-PEI-GO membranes presented the improved chlorine resistances with the increasing GO concentration.

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Effect of Kenaf MCC composition on Thin Film Composite membrane for NaCI Rejection

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201925804003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 258 ◽

pp. 04003

Author(s):

Azman Ismail ◽

Ramlah Mohd Tajuddin ◽

Hamizah Mohktar ◽

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Interfacial Polymerization ◽

Pure Water ◽

Water Flux ◽

Contact Angle Measurement ◽

Angle Measurement ◽

Sem Images ◽

Water Contact ◽

Membrane Performance ◽

Pure Water Flux

A modified thin film PSf-MCC reverse osmosis membrane was prepared by interfacial polymerization between aqueous MPD and TMC as the organic monomer. Aim of this study is to determine the effect of MCC in membrane formulation and fabrication. The surface and cross section morphology of TFC PSF/MCC membrane shows MCC particle which able to improve hydrophilicity of the membrane. The SEM images showed dense and porous structure of the MCC incorporated membranes. In addition, the water contact angle measurement also confirmed the increased hydrophilicity of the modified membranes. The effect of MCC on membrane matric influence the membrane performance in terms of NaCl rejection and pure water flux. Results showed that TFC PSf/MCC membrane shows NaCl rejection up to 98.9% compared with TFC PSf membrane. TFC PSf/MCC membrane also showed the highest pure water flux which is 3.712 Lm2/hr compare with TFC PSF membrane which is 3.606 Lm2/hr. The overall result proved that MCC particle could improve membrane hydrophilicity hence, increased pure water flux and salt rejection.

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