Forward osmosis process membranes incorporated with functionalized P.ZnO nanoparticles for organic fouling control

Abstract

The incorporation of functional nanoparticles in polyamide (PA) membranes is an efficient procedure for the thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes development with enhanced desalination efficiency. Our aim was to synthesize forward osmosis process (FOP) membranes incorporated with PIP-functionalized ZnO (P.ZnO) nanoparticles, which were produced with surface functionalities groups of amine, epoxy and hydroxyl. The outcomes of FTIR confirmed the synthesis of P.ZnO nanoparticles, while WCA, AFM and FESEM supported the alterations in chemical and physical attributes of the FOP membranes surface upon P.ZnO nanoparticles incorporation. In both reverse osmosis process (ROP) and FOP tests, outcomes illustrated that the TFN-P.ZnO0.03 membrane was the most promising FOP and ROP membrane as it exhibited 119% higher pure water flux (PWF) (in FOP test) than the base FOP membrane. In terms of FOP membrane fouling propensity, the TFN-P.ZnO0.03 membrane also illustrated lower fouling propensity compared to the base membrane. Our outcomes have provided novel intuition into the structure-efficiency correlation of TFN FOP membranes and can be advantageous for the synthesis of the wide confinement of nanoparticles incorporated FOP membranes.