Novel Thin Film Composite Nanofiltration Membrane Using Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Diethanolamine (DEA) with m-Phenylenediamine (MPD)

Abstract

A novel thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membrane was prepared by interfacial polymerization of polyamide layer on a polyethersulfone support, using monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) with m-phenylenediamine as monomers and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) as crosslink agent. The membrane surface before and after using aminoalcohol monomers (MEA and DEA) was investigated in detail using ATR-FTIR, TGA, AFM and SEM. The AFM and SEM images showed that addition of MEA and DEA had a strong impact on surface morphology. The polyamide layer thickness of control and modified TFC membranes based on MEA and DEA were calculated to be in 180–230 nm range and the mean pore sizes were about 0.35–1.2 nm. The RO performance tests indicated that addition of MEA and DEA can increase the NaCl and Na2SO4 rejection remarkably with little decline in the pure water permeation flux.