Ultra-thin PTMSP nanocomposite membranes incorporated with functionalized MoS2 nanosheets for pharmaceutical concentration and solvent recovery

Abstract

Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes with enhanced separation performance and excellent structure stability are of great benefit in recovering organic solvent and concentrating molecules in pharmaceutical industry. In this study, we developed a smooth and ultra-thin nanocomposite membrane by incorporating sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) functionalized molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) nanosheets into an ultra-thin poly-trimethylsilylpropyne (PTMSP) skin layer on polysulfone (PSf) substrate via a facile solution coating method. The two-dimensional (2D) SDBS-MoS2 with improved compatibility was employed to provide selective channels for solvent permeation while reducing defect cavities to increase solute rejection. The resulting membrane exhibited a significantly improved methanol permeance of up to 8.38 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, signifying a noteworthy 56 % increment compared to the pristine membrane. Additionally, the RB rejection increased from 95.05 % to 97.72 %. The as-prepared membrane also demonstrated favorable long-term stability and efficient molecules separation capabilities in the pharmaceutical industry. This work demonstrated that the compatibility and dispersibility of 2D MoS2 could be improved by adding SDBS, resulting in a SDBS-MoS2-PTMSP membrane with excellent OSN performance and outstanding long-term stability, making it highly promising for industrial applications.