Surfactant effects on polyamide thin-film composite membranes fabricated by co-solvent assisted interfacial polymerization

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) was introduced into a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwoven fabric to develop novel support for polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes without using a microporous support layer. First, temperature-responsive PNIPAAm hydrogel was prepared by reactive pore-filling to adjust the pore size of non-woven fabric, creating hydrophilic support. The developed PET-based support was then used to fabricate PA TFC membranes via interfacial polymerization. SEM–EDX and AFM results confirmed the successful fabrication of hydrogel-integrated non-woven fabric and PA TFC membranes. The newly developed PA TFC membrane demonstrated an average water permeability of 1 L/m2 h bar, and an NaCl rejection of 47.0% at a low operating pressure of 1 bar. The thermo-responsive property of the prepared membrane was studied by measuring the water contact angle (WCA) below and above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNIPAAm hydrogel. Results proved the thermo-responsive behavior of the prepared hydrogel-filled PET-supported PA TFC membrane and the ability to tune the membrane flux by changing the operating temperature was confirmed. Overall, this study provides a novel method to fabricate TFC membranes and helps to better understand the influence of the support layer on the separation performance of TFC membranes.

Synthesis of thin film composite polyamide membranes: Effect of monohydric and polyhydric alcohol additives in aqueous solution

Correlating the microstructure of novel polyamide thin-film composite membranes with ethanol dehydration performances

Polyamide thin-film composite membranes with enhanced interfacial stability for durable organic solvent nanofiltration

Interfacially polymerized thin-film composite polyamide membranes: Effects of annealing processes on pervaporative dehydration of aqueous alcohol solutions

High-flux polyamide membrane with improved chlorine resistance for efficient dye/salt separation based on a new N-rich amine monomer

Fabrication of thin film composite polyamide membrane for water purification via inkjet printing of aqueous and solvent inks

In situ amphiphilic modification of thin film composite membrane for application in aqueous and organic solvents

Polyamide layer modulation for PA-TFC membranes Optimization: Developments, Mechanisms, and implications

Study on characterization and pervaporation performance of interfacially polymerized polyamide thin-film composite membranes for dehydrating tetrahydrofuran

Ultrahigh-permeance polyamide thin-film composite membranes enabled by interfacial polymerization on a macro-porous substrate toward organic solvent nanofiltration

A polydopamine-coated polyamide thin film composite membrane with enhanced selectivity and stability for vanadium redox flow battery

We developed a simple and facile approach to covalently immobilize Ag nanoparticles (NPs) onto polyamide surfaces of thin film composite membranes through layer-by-layer interfacial polymerization (LBL-IP) for biofouling mitigation. Stable and uniform bovine serum albumin (BSA) capped Ag NPs with an average diameter of around 20 nm were synthesized using BSA as a template under the assistance of sonication, and Ag NPs incorporated thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membrane was then fabricated by LBL-IP on a nanoporous polysulfone (PSf) substrate upon sequential coating with m-phenylenediamine (MPD) aqueous solution, trimesoyl chloride (TMC)-hexane solution, and finally BSA-capped Ag NPs aqueous solution. The influence of Ag NPs incorporation was investigated on the surface physicochemical properties, water permeability, and salt rejection of TFC polyamide membrane. Our findings show that Ag NPs functionalized membrane exhibited excellent antibacterial properties without sacrificing their permeability and rejection, and Ag NPs incorporation affected very little surface roughness and charge of polyamide layer. Moreover, the incorporated Ag NPs presented a low release rate and excellent stability on polyamide surface in cross-flow conditions. Given the simplicity and versatility of this approach, our study provides a practicable avenue for direct incorporation of various surface-tailored nanomaterials on the polyamide surface to develop high-performance TFC membranes with fouling-resistant properties on a large scale.

Gas separation and water desalination performance of defect-free interfacially polymerized para-linked polyamide thin-film composite membranes

l-Tartaric acid tailored polyamide thin-film composite membrane with enhanced performance for salt and molecular removal