Abstract
An investigation of the effect of the molecular weight of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on thin-film composite (TFC) flat sheet polysulfone membrane performance was conducted systematically, for application in forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). The TFC flat sheet PSf-modified membranes were prepared via a non-solvent phase-separation technique by introducing PEGs of different molecular weights into the dope solution. The TFC flat sheet PSf-PEG membranes were characterized by SEM, FTIR and AFM. The PSf membrane modified with PEG 600 was found to have the optimum composition. Under FO mode, this modified membrane had a water permeability of 12.30 Lm−2h−1 and a power density of 2.22 Wm−2, under a pressure of 8 bar in PRO mode, using 1 M NaCl and deionized water as the draw and feed solutions, respectively. The high water permeability and good mechanical stability of the modified TFC flat sheet PSF-PEG membrane in this study suggests that this membrane has great potential in future osmotically powered generation systems.
Highlights
The growth of global energy demands and the rise in carbon emissions have led to an active exploration of renewable energy sources, such as solar [1], wind [2], geothermal [3] and biofuel [4] energy
When polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added with increasing Mw, there was a noticeable difference in the morphologies of the membranes due to the dissolution of the PEG, which consumed some of the solvent and resulted in higher dope solution viscosity
The SEM images showed that the morphologies of the membranes were very loose, with larger finger-like pores emerging for higher Mws of PEG
Summary
The growth of global energy demands and the rise in carbon emissions have led to an active exploration of renewable energy sources, such as solar [1], wind [2], geothermal [3] and biofuel [4] energy. Salinity gradient power (SGE) (or osmotic power) is a renewable energy source that is currently under the spotlight due to its potential in power generation [5–9]. The SGE membrane processes, such as forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), are driven osmotically. These membranes operate according to the osmotic pressure difference between solutions on each side of the membrane (i.e., low salinity (LS) and high salinity (HS)). For the PRO process, the osmotic pressure (∆P < ∆π) is applied on the HS side, which partially retards the water’s movement across the semipermeable membrane [10], allowing the water to flow towards the HS solution. Unlike the FO membrane, a PRO membrane requires sufficient mechanical strength to withstand the high hydraulic pressure being applied
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