Modification of polyamide TFC nanofiltration membrane for improving separation and antifouling properties

Li-Fen Liu; Xiang Huang; Xiao Zhang; Ke Li; Yan-Li Ji; Chun-Yang Yu; Cong-Jie Gao

doi:10.1039/c8ra01374h

Modification of polyamide TFC nanofiltration membrane for improving separation and antifouling properties

RSC Adv. 2018 Apr 20;8(27):15102-15110. doi: 10.1039/c8ra01374h. eCollection 2018 Apr 18.

Authors

Li-Fen Liu^{1

2}, Xiang Huang^{1

3}, Xiao Zhang^{1

2}, Ke Li⁴, Yan-Li Ji^{1

2}, Chun-Yang Yu⁴, Cong-Jie Gao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Membrane and Water Science and Technology, Ocean College, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 China lifenliu@zjut.edu.cn.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Membrane Separation and Water Treatment of Zhejiang Province Hangzhou 310014 China.
³ College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 China.
⁴ School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 800 Dongchuan Road Shanghai China 200240.

Abstract

In this work, a dendrimer trimesoyl amide amine (TMAAM) monomer was proposed to be used as a key functional monomer to modify the conventional aromatic polyamide thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membrane, and a new kind of TMAAM-based semi-aromatic polyamide composite NF membrane was thus prepared by interfacial polymerization. The effects of the PIP/TMAAM ratio (PIP = piperazine) on the membrane chemical structure, surface properties and separation performances were investigated systematically. With the increase in TMAAM content loaded in the membrane, the water flux strongly increased but the salt rejection decreased only slightly. When the PIP/TMAAM ratio was 1, the membrane NF-2 exhibited a smoother and more hydrophilic surface, as a result of which it displayed an optimum separation performance for different valent salts. In addition, the TMAAM modified TFC membrane presented an extremely high rejection to negatively charged dye molecules and high permeation for monovalent salts, leading to good prospects for dye/salt separation application. Moreover, both the water flux and salt rejection of the TMAAM-based membrane were stable in a long-term running process, and the membrane showed a favourable anti-fouling property and efficient cleaning recovery. Therefore, this work provides a new type of semi-aromatic polyamide composite NF membrane fabricated by a facile and straightforward method via interfacial polymerization with high hydrophilicity, good stability and strong anti-fouling property.