Novel Thin Film Nanocomposite Forward Osmosis Membranes Prepared by Organic Phase Controlled Interfacial Polymerization with Functional Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Xu Zhang,
Jiuhan Zheng,
Lusheng Xu,
Ming Yin,
Guoliang Zhang,
Wenqian Zhao,
Zeyu Zhang,
Chong Shen,
Qin Meng
Affiliations
Xu Zhang
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Jiuhan Zheng
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Lusheng Xu
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Ming Yin
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Guoliang Zhang
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Wenqian Zhao
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Zeyu Zhang
State Key Lab of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Center for Membrane and Water Science &Technology, Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
Chong Shen
College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Qin Meng
College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Novel high-quality thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for enhanced forward osmosis (FO) were first synthesized through organic phase controlled interfacial polymerization by utilizing functional multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). As 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) grafted MWCNTs via an amidation reaction significantly promoted the dispersion in organic solution, MWCNTs-APTES with better compatibility effectively restricted the penetration of trimesoyl chloride (TMC), thus adjusting the morphology and characters of TFN membranes. Various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), sessile droplet analysis and FO experiments and reverse osmosis (RO) operation were taken to characterize and evaluate the performance of nanocomposites and membranes. The prepared TFN FO membranes exhibited good hydrophilicity and separation efficiency, in which water flux was about twice those of thin film composite (TFC) membranes without MWCNTs-APTES in both AL-DS and AL-FS modes. Compared with the original TFC membrane, the membrane structural parameter of the novel TFN FO membrane sharply was cut down to 60.7%. Based on the large number of low mass-transfer resistance channels provided by functional nanocomposites, the progresses may provide a facile approach to fabricate novel TFN FO membranes with advanced selectivity and permeability.
