High flux polyethylene glycol based nanofiltration membranes for water environmental remediation

Xi Quan Cheng, Lu Shao*, Cher Hon Lau

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A hydrophilic thin-film-composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membrane has been developed through the interfacial polymerization (IP) of amino-functional polyethylene glycol (PEG) and trimesoyl chloride. The selective layer is formed on a polyethersullone (PES) support that is characterized using FTIR, XPS and SEM, and is dependent on monomer immersion duration, and the concentration of monomers and additives. The higher hydrophilicity alongside the larger pore size of the PEG-based selective layer is the key to a high water flux of 66.0 L m(-2) h(-1) at 5.0 bar. With mean pore radius of 0.42 nm and narrow pore size distribution, the MgSO4 rejections of the PEG based PA TFC NF membranes can reach up to 80.2%. The rejection rates for different salts of the novel membranes are in the order of R(MgCl2) > R(MgSO4) > R(NaCl) > R(Na2SO4); indicating a membrane with positive surface charges. The pore sizes and water permeability of these membranes are tailored by varying the molecular weight and molecular architecture of amino-functional PEG. These newly developed TFC NF membranes show great potential for water softening, wastewater treatment and separation and purification of active, pharmaceutical molecules. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-104
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume476
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Feb 2015

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Nanofiltration
  • Interfacial polymerization
  • PEG based diamine
  • High flux
  • Hydrophilic membranes
  • REVERSE-OSMOSIS MEMBRANE
  • HOLLOW-FIBER MEMBRANES
  • INTERFACIAL POLYMERIZATION
  • SURFACE MODIFICATION
  • TRIMESOYL CHLORIDE
  • POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)
  • COMPOSITE MEMBRANES
  • ULTRAFILTRATION MEMBRANE
  • POLYAMIDE MEMBRANES
  • FOULING RESISTANCE

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