Novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes modified by the MoS2@Zeolite X nanocomposite were made and studied for desalination by the forward osmosis (FO) method. Herein, MoS2@Zeolite X nanocomposite (MoS2@Z) and zeolite X particles are integrated into the polyamide (PA) selective layer of the TFN membranes, separately. The aim of this study is the synthesis of nanocomposites containing hydrophilic zeolite X particles with a modified surface and pore and improvement of their effective properties on desalination and antifouling performance. For this purpose, MoS2 nanosheets with a high hydrophilicity were selected. The existence of polymer-matrix-compatible MoS2@Z inside the PA active layer caused the formation of a defect-free smooth surface with further channels within this layer that could increase the water flux and fouling resistance of the TFN membranes. The TFN-MZ2 membrane (containing 0.01 wt % MoS2@Z) showed the top desalination performance in the FO process. In contrast to the pristine thin-film composite (TFC) and TFN-Z2 membrane (containing 0.025 wt % zeolite X, the most optimal membrane among the zeolite-modified membranes), its water flux has increased by 2.6 and 1.8 times, respectively. Furthermore, in the fouling test, this optimal TFN-MZ2 membrane with a flux decrement of 19.6% revealed an ∼2.2- and 1.8-fold enhancement in antifouling tendency compared to the TFC and TFN-Z2, respectively. Also, based on the antibiofouling test, the water flux drop of 48.6% for the TFC membrane has reached 36.9% for the optimal membrane. Hence, this high-performance TFN-MZ2 membrane shows good capability for commercial employment in FO desalination application.
Keywords: Antifouling; Desalination; Forward osmosis; MoS2@zeolite X; Thin-film nanocomposite membrane.