Membrane Seawater Desalination Research Articles

Exploring mass transfer mechanisms in reverse osmosis membranes: A comparative study of SDM and DSPM-DE models

Thin-film composite reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have dominated desalination technology for decades, with the solution diffusion model (SDM) serving as the gold standard for interpreting mass transfer phenomena since its inception. However, debates still persist regarding the effect of charge on separation performance, owing to the SDM's inability to explore membrane charge. In this study, polyethyleneimine (PEI) was utilized to modify the surface of a commercial seawater desalination membrane (SW30, Dupont Company), imparting regulatable charge properties based on the solution pH. The separation performance of the modified RO membrane was experimentally validated under varying NaCl feed salinities. Specifically, the Donnan-steric pore model with dielectric exclusion (DSPM-DE), known as a charge-responsive model, was employed and juxtaposed with SDM to authenticate the experimental findings. The results indicated that the dielectric effect primarily governed ion distribution (Na+ and Cl−) within the membrane, followed by the steric effect, and ultimately, the Donnan effect. Consequently, DSPM-DE aligned well with the observed salt rejection only when the membrane was strongly charged (that is, under acidic or alkaline conditions), but performed poorly in the neutral state. This observation, rarely revealed in previous research, stems from conventional desalination membranes being negatively charged in most natural water environments. Conversely, the SDM aligned well with the experimental data because it solely considered the solutes' solubility parameters and diffusion coefficient, independently of the surface charge of the desalination membranes. Given the extensive research on surface modification, our study demonstrates the limited influence of charge effects on the selective enhancement of RO membranes.

Functionalization of seawater reverse osmosis membrane with quorum sensing inhibitor to regulate microbial community and mitigate membrane biofouling

Membrane biofouling is a challenge to be solved for the stable operation of the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane. This study explored the regulation mechanism of quorum sensing (QS) inhibition on microbial community composition and population-level behaviors in seawater desalination membrane biofouling. A novel antibiofouling SWRO membrane (MA_m) by incorporating one of quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs), methyl anthranilate (MA) was prepared. It exhibited enhanced anti-biofouling performance than the exogenous addition of QSIs, showing long-term stability and alleviating 22 % decrease in membrane flux compared with the virgin membrane. The results observed that dominant bacteria Epsilon- and Gamma-proteobacteria (Shewanella, Olleya, Colwellia, and Arcobacter), which are significantly related to (P ≤ 0.01) the metabolic products (i.e., polysaccharides, proteins and eDNA), are reduced by over 80 % on the MA_m membrane. Additionally, the introduction of MA has a more significant impact on the QS signal-sensing pathway through binding to the active site of the transmembrane sensor receptor. It effectively reduces the abundance of genes encoding QS and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) (exopolysaccharides (i.e., galE and nagB) and amino acids (i.e., ilvE, metH, phhA, and serB)) by up to 50 % and 30 %, respectively, resulting in a reduction of EPS by more than 50 %, thereby limiting the biofilm formation on the QSI-modified membrane. This study provides novel insights into the potential of QSIs to control consortial biofilm formation in practical SWRO applications.

Optimization of seawater desalination processes with the ideal reverse osmosis equation

The optimization of a membrane seawater desalination system is used to be a very complicated and time consuming process because tedious calculations are required to determine permeate recovery of the membrane system. This process can be greatly streamlined when the ideal reverse osmosis model is used to calculate the recovery of the membrane system. With this model, the pressure for a designated recovery can be determined conveniently and accurately from the basic parameters of a membrane system. Then the specific cost under various conditions can be calculated for the recovery. Finally, the recovery that minimized the specific cost for the permeate production can be easily determined graphically. The impacts of energy, membrane, feed water pretreatment, and concentrate handling on the optimal recovery of a membrane desalination process are demonstrated. The avoidance of a large number of equations and numerical integration in the determination of permeate recovery can greatly facilitate the optimization of design and operation of seawater desalination processes.

Surface-engineered TiO2 nanoparticles incorporated Chitosan polymer membrane for seawater desalination: Fabrication, characterization, and performance evaluation

The effect of surface coating over titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) incorporated with chitosan (TiO2-NPs/chitosan) was evaluated as a reverse osmosis membrane (RO) for enhanced performance on seawater desalination. The impact of surface coating on the chitosan membrane performance in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) was investigated by altering the mass of TiO2-NPs (0.25 g and 0.5 g) used for the surface coating RO membrane. TiO2-NPs were applied to the membranes using a surface coating technique and dried to create a sturdy polymer structure. The characteristic of fabricated membranes shows the function group reflects on organic compounds from /chitosan membranes polymer (–OH, -CH, C=O, C-O-C, -CH3, C-O, and NH2). In addition, TiO2-NPs are expressed in the wavenumber range of 850-500 cm-1, which characterizes the presence of Ti-O-Ti bonds. Morphological and crystal analyses of TiO2-NPs incorporated in chitosan membrane show significantly smaller pores formed because TiO2-NPs are essential in the high permeability performance under the amorphous phase structure. Also, the high performance of fabricated membranes was evaluated against water flux and salt. Adding TiO2-NPs can decrease the water flux value by 23 L m-2 h-1 and increase salt rejection by 52.94%. In optimized pH, the seawater desalination had efficient recovery.

Osmotic cleaning to control inorganic fouling of nanofiltration membrane for seawater desalination

The inorganic fouling of NF membrane caused by long-term operation as a pretreatment process seawater desalination cannot be ignored. In this study, an osmotic cleaning with NaCl solution was proposed for controlling NF membrane inorganic fouling in seawater desalination. The effects of cleaning solution concentration, cleaning time and cross-flow velocity of cleaning solution were investigated in this study and the results showed that the cleaning efficiency increased with the cleaning time, the cleaning solution concentration, and the cross-flow velocity of cleaning solution. The water flux of NF membrane for synthetic seawater filtration was recovered to 99.8% of the initial water flux after 5 min of osmotic cleaning with 17 wt% NaCl solution at 0.69 m·s-1 of cross-flow velocity and 25 oC, and reached to 100.0% after 10 min of cleaning. The repeated fouling and cleaning experiment indicated that osmotic cleaning shows high efficiency and long-term stable performance of water flux recovery. The microstructure analysis indicated that CaSO4 and CaCO3 deposited on the membrane surface were efficiently removed, and the main mechanism is that the backwash flux creates synergy effect with ion-exchange to removes the inorganic fouling on the membrane surface. By comparing the changes in water flux and permeate water quality after cleaning with different cleaning methods, it was found that osmotic cleaning has better cleaning efficiency and less membrane damage. The results indicated that the osmotic cleaning is a process combines with dissolution, backwashing and tangential scouring and shows highly efficient performance to control inorganic fouling on NF membrane.

Ultrafast seawater desalination with phosphorene oxide nanochannel based membrane: Nonmonotonic relationship between oxidation degree and water permeability

Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of phosphorene membranes for seawater desalination. However, these membranes are susceptible to oxidation in water, albeit at a slower rate compared to exposure to air. This study investigates the desalination performance of phosphorene oxide (PO) nanochannel-based membranes using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results reveal that PO membranes with varying oxidation degrees (ranging from 0 % to 10 %) exhibit exceptional performance, surpassing traditional commercial membranes by two orders of magnitude in terms of water permeability. Notably, the water permeability of PO membranes with large interlayer spacings does not exhibit a linear decrease with increasing oxidation, since the high oxidation degree elicits the steric hindrance as well as the strong interactions (hydrogen bond and Coulomb energies) between these oxidation groups and water molecules. These findings not only confirms the superior performance of phosphorene oxide membranes in desalination but also uncovers the non-monotonic relationship between oxidation degree and water permeability.

Sustainability and cost of water savings through new high rejection FilmTec™ BW30XHR PRO-440 membrane for seawater desalination

Sustainability and cost of water savings through new high rejection FilmTec™ BW30XHR PRO-440 membrane for seawater desalination

Computational simulation-driven discovery of novel zeolite-like carbon materials as seawater desalination membranes.

Freshwater is a scarce and vulnerable resource that has never encountered such an extensive focus on a nearly worldwide scale as it does today. Recently, it has been found that desalination powered by two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials as separation membranes has significantly reduced the operational costs and complexity but presents heavy requirements for the structural stability and separation properties of the membrane materials. Here, we combined carbon materials with promising adsorption properties and zeolites characterized by a regular pore structure to obtain a zeolite-like structured carbon membrane Zeo-C and investigated the suitability of the Zeo-C membrane for seawater desalination based on the computational-simulation-driven approach. The results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the periodic pore distribution conferred favorable structural stability and mechanical strength to the Zeo-C desalination membrane. The rejection rate of Na+ and Cl- is ensured at 100% under a pressure of 40-70 MPa, and that of Na+ could reach 97.85% even though the pressure increases to 80 MPa, exhibiting superior desalination properties. The porous nature of the zeolite-like structure and the low free energy potential barrier are conducive for reliable adsorption and homogeneous diffusion of salt ions, which facilitates the acquisition of desirable water molecule permeability and salt ion selectivity. In particular, the interlinked delocalized π-network imparts inherent metallicity to Zeo-C for self-cleaning in response to electrical stimulation, thereby extending the lifetime of the desalination membrane. These studies have greatly encouraged theoretical innovations and serve as a guiding reference for desalination materials.

Surface/interfacial transport through pores control desalination mechanisms in 2D carbon-based membranes.

The shortage of freshwater is a critical concern for contemporary society, and reverse osmosis desalination technology has gathered considerable attention as a potential solution to this problem. It has been recognized that the desalination process involving water flow through angstrom-sized pores has tremendous potential. However, it is challenging to obtain angstrom-sized pore structures with internal mass transfer and surface/interface properties matching the application conditions. Herein, a two-dimensional (2D) zeolite-like carbon structure (Carzeo-ANG) was constructed with unique angstrom-sized pores in the zeolite structure; then, the surface/interfacial transport behavior and percolation effect of the Carzeo-ANG desalination membrane were evaluated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and classical molecular dynamics. The first-principles calculations in density functional theory were implemented through the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP), which is a commercial package for the simulation of carbon-based materials. The results show that Carzeo-ANG is periodically distributed with angstrom-sized pores (effective diameter = 5.4 Å) of dodecacyclic carbon rings, which ensure structural stability while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength. The remarkable salt-ion adsorption properties and mass transfer activity combined with the reasonable density distribution and free energy barrier for water molecules endow the membrane with superior desalination ability. At the pressure of 80 MPa, the rejection efficiency of Cl- and Na+ were 100% and 96.25%, and the membrane could achieve a water flux of 132.71 L cm-2 day-1 MPa-1. Moreover, the interconnected electronic structure of Carzeo-ANG imparts a self-cleaning effect.

Assessment of ultrasound-assisted forward osmosis process performance for seawater desalination using experimental factorial design

The effect of ultrasound on water flux through forward osmosis membrane for seawater desalination was investigated using the factorial design approach. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used to simulate the dissolved solids content. In every test, the initial draw solution (DS) concentration was fixed at 4.5 M for NaCl and 2 M for MgCl2. Parameters considered in the investigation included membrane crossflow velocity (0.25 and 1.0 cm/s), flow configuration (co-current versus counter-current), direction of ultrasound waves relative to the membrane side (active layer versus support layer), and type of draw solution (NaCl versus MgCl2). A two-level factorial design was considered in the analysis of the results obtained from the experimental work. Based on the factorial design analysis, crossflow velocity and use of ultrasound have a positive effect on water flux enhancement for both draw solutions. However, the velocity effect on water flux enhancement was more pronounced than that of the use of ultrasound. The effect of flow configuration was statistically insignificant for both draw solutions. The interaction effect between crossflow velocity and ultrasound was statistically significant for both draw solutions. However, the interaction between crossflow velocity and flow configuration was only significant for the case of MgCl2. The three-way interaction was insignificant for both draw solutions. The developed factorial model equations were used to predict other flux data in ultrasound-assisted FO systems and showed adequate representation of these data at relatively similar conditions after adjustment of the model for the baseline conditions of the evaluated cases.

Techno-economic analysis on the production of domestic water using solar-driven membrane seawater desalination device in the Philippines

This study investigates the technical design and economic assessment of an industrial plant that produces 160 m3/day of domestic water using solar-driven membrane seawater desalination technology. The proposed desalination plant in Barangay Nalus, Kiamba, Sarangani Province, Philippines, has three main processing areas. These areas include the pre-treatment for particle removal, desalination of seawater, and post-treatment to comply with domestic water standards in the country. The economic assessment revealed a total capital expenditure of $2,364,317.00 with a unit product cost of $9.75/m3 or a selling price of $12.68/m3 with a 30% markup. The high capital and product costs are due to the low production rate, the novelty of the technology, expensive membrane cost, and extensive land area requirement. Profitability analysis for a selling price of $12.68/m3 revealed a more than 14-year payback period, a loss of $235,000.00, and a high 41% chance of being unprofitable. Reducing the product price to a market price of $1.17/m3 also reveals no profit at all: a loss of $4.6 million and a 100% chance of being unprofitable. Thus, it is highly recommended to delay construction of the proposed plant until the technology becomes matured and fully developed to produce a competitive price-wise membrane-based desalinated seawater.

Pervaporation Membranes for Seawater Desalination Based on Geo-rGO-TiO2 Nanocomposites: Part 2-Membranes Performances.

This is part 2 of the research on pervaporation membranes for seawater desalination based on Geo-rGO-TiO2 nanocomposite. The quality of the Geo-rGO-TiO2 pervaporation membranes (PV), as well as the suitability of the built pervaporation system, is thoroughly discussed. The four membranes described in detail in the first article were tested for their capabilities using the parameters turbidity, salinity, total suspended solids (TSS), and electrical conductivity (EC). The membranes' flux permeate was measured as a function of temperature, and salt rejection was calculated using the electrical conductivity values of the feed and permeate. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to investigate changes in the chemical composition and internal structure of the membranes after use in pervaporation systems. The morphology of the membrane's surfaces was examined by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the elemental distribution was observed by using X-ray mapping and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that the pervaporation membrane of Geo-rGO-TiO2 (1, 3) achieved a permeate flux as high as 2.29 kg/m2·h with a salt rejection of around 91%. The results of the FTIR and XRD measurements did not show any changes in the functional group and chemical compositions of the membrane after the pervaporation process took place. Long-term pressure and temperature feed cause significant cracking in geopolymer and Geo-TiO2 (3) membranes. SEM results revealed that the surface of all membranes is leached out, and elemental distribution based on X-ray mapping and EDS observations revealed the addition of Na+ ions on the membrane surface. The study's findings pave the way for more research and development of geopolymers as the basic material for inorganic membranes, particularly with the addition of rGO-TiO2 nanocomposites.

Evaluation of Solar Energy Powered Seawater Desalination Processes: A Review

Solar energy, amongst all renewable energies, has attracted inexhaustible attention all over the world as a supplier of sustainable energy. The energy requirement of major seawater desalination processes such as multistage flash (MSF), multi-effect distillation (MED) and reverse osmosis (RO) are fulfilled by burning fossil fuels, which impact the environment significantly due to the emission of greenhouse gases. The integration of solar energy systems into seawater desalination processes is an attractive and alternative solution to fossil fuels. This study aims to (i) assess the progress of solar energy systems including concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) to power both thermal and membrane seawater desalination processes including MSF, MED, and RO and (ii) evaluate the economic considerations and associated challenges with recommendations for further improvements. Thus, several studies on a different combination of seawater desalination processes of solar energy systems are reviewed and analysed concerning specific energy consumption and freshwater production cost. It is observed that although solar energy systems have the potential of reducing carbon footprint significantly, the cost of water production still favours the use of fossil fuels. Further research and development on solar energy systems are required to make their use in desalination economically viable. Alternatively, the carbon tax on the use of fossil fuels may persuade desalination industries to adopt renewable energy such as solar.

Molecular insight into C60-grafted graphene oxide as a novel reverse osmosis membrane with low energy consumption for seawater desalination

In this study, via molecular dynamics simulations, the performance of the cross-sectional and flat pure GO and GO/C60 membranes for seawater desalination have been investigated and compared. The simulation results demonstrate that the flat and cross-sectional pure GO membranes, despite 100 % salt rejection, due to low interlayer spacing show an additional resistance on the water permeation that exhibit low water flux even at high pressures. While, the cross-sectional GO/C60 membrane with high interlayer spacing provides a tunnel with a high effective area for high water flux even at low pressure. Also, this membrane shows a 100 % salt rejection due to the steric effects caused by C60 molecules. The flat GO/C60 membrane with misalignment and offsetting slits on the layers shows an additional resistance on the water permeation which decreases the water flux compared to the cross-sectional GO/C60 by diversion of water flow. Therefore, cross-sectional GO/C60 membrane with a high water flux and salt rejection at low pressure, provides a great potential for energy-efficient seawater desalination by RO process.

Influence of the spacer filament on the flow and mass transfer in reverse osmosis seawater desalination membrane

The influence of the spacer filament on the flow and mass transfer in reverse osmosis seawater desalination membrane is studied by the lattice Boltzmann method. The effects of Reynolds number (Re), blockage ratio (β), and osmotic pressure (ΔP) on the concentration polarization, permeate flux, the drag and lift forces on the spacer, and the shear stress on the membrane surface are studied, respectively. The results show that the spacer near the membrane surface at large Re can effectively prevent the formation of the concentration boundary layer. The vortices near the membrane surface bring the solutes into the bulk flow, then reducing the concentration polarization and improving the mass transfer efficiency. In addition, the changes of the flow pattern, the mean value of the drag coefficient (Cd), the lift coefficient (Cl), and the skin friction coefficient (fskin) are explored, respectively. The drag coefficient (Cd) increases with the increase in β and decreases with Re, the permeate flux across the membrane and the increasing of the osmotic pressure will slightly reduce the drag and lift coefficients.

A scalable method to fabricate high-performance biomimetic membranes for seawater desalination: Incorporating pillar[5]arene water nanochannels into the polyamide selective layer

In this work, we explored the practicability of a nanochannel-based biomimetic membrane (NBM) incorporating pillar[5]arene water channels for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination. Two classes of peptide-attached biomimetic channels, (pR)-pillar[5]arenes (pRPH) and (pS)-pillar[5]arenes (pSPH) were integrated into the selective layer of SWRO membranes via interfacial polymerization on the top side of a polysulfone (PSf) support membrane. Here, pSPH is a non-identical stereoisomer of pRPH and was used as a negative control to pRPH to elucidate the flux enhancement effect contributed by pRPH. The optimized NBM presented a water permeability of 2.52 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 and 99.5% rejection under SWRO testing conditions of 50 bar applied pressure and 32,000 mg/L NaCl as feed solution. The 62% permeability increment with reference to the control membrane is hypothesized to originate from hybrid polyamide layers that were rougher with more voids (higher effective surface area and lower hydraulic resistance for water transport) as well as the conceivable water transport pathways provided by the pRPH channels. The simulation results from module-scale modelling suggest that the optimized NBM could lead to 7.2% savings in specific energy consumption of the membrane unit stage (or reduce the required membrane area by 25%) with respect to the commercial SWC4-LD membrane. The performance of the optimized NBM was further assessed in a one-week desalination test using an actual seawater feed gathered from an SWRO plant in Singapore. The robust NBM exhibited stable performance and ∼28% higher water flux (42 L m-2 h-1) than SWC4-LD with a comparable rejection of 99.3%, suggesting the feasibility of pillar[5]arene-based biomimetic membranes for seawater desalination.

In situ reactive coating of porous filtration membranes with functional polymer layers to integrate boron adsorber property

The state-of-the-art reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination have limited competence to efficiently remove boron. One promising approach for boron removal is to integrate membrane-based separation with selective adsorption of boron in pre- or posttreatment of seawater desalination; the porous support layer of established filtration membranes, constituting the largest part of total membrane volume shall be utilized for this function. Therefore, this study focuses on performing in situ modification of commercial polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration membranes toward reactive coating the pore surface with a boron affinity polymer-based hydrogel. Modification is carried out in two steps: 1) adsorption of an amphiphilic copolymer which contains tertiary amine groups as co-initiator for surface-selective free radical generation; 2) grafting of a hydrogel layer by using a monomer solution comprising polyol-containing monomer as boron ligand, a cross-linker monomer, and the redox initiator ammonium persulfate (APS). The entire modification process is performed under flow-through conditions. Membranes with different pore sizes were modified; modification parameters, such as molar mass of macromolecular co-initiator as well as composition of reactive monomer solution, were systematically varied. It was found that using an “integrated” initiation system with low molecular weight co-initiator N,N,N′,N′-tetraethyl ethylenediamine (TEMED) added to the reactive solution, yielded significantly higher degree of grafting and therefore superior adsorber properties. Boron binding capacity of modified membranes was evaluated in terms of boron adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, break-through behavior under filtration conditions and regeneration of the adsorber. The trade-off between permeance and boron binding capacity of modified membrane was studied in order to identify promising materials with competitive overall separation performance, i.e. high permeance at a specific filter cut-off in combination with high boron binding capacity.

NiSe and CoSe Topological Nodal-Line Semimetals: A Sustainable Platform for Efficient Thermoplasmonics and Solar-Driven Photothermal Membrane Distillation.

The control of heat at the nanoscale via the excitation of localized surface plasmons in nanoparticles (NPs) irradiated with light holds great potential in several fields (cancer therapy, catalysis, desalination). To date, most thermoplasmonic applications are based on Ag and Au NPs, whose cost of raw materials inevitably limits the scalability for industrial applications requiring large amounts of photothermal NPs, as in the case of desalination plants. On the other hand, alternative nanomaterials proposed so far exhibit severe restrictions associated with the insufficient photothermal efficacy in the visible, the poor chemical stability, and the challenging scalability. Here, it is demonstrated the outstanding potential of NiSe and CoSe topological nodal-line semimetals for thermoplasmonics. The anisotropic dielectric properties of NiSe and CoSe activate additional plasmonic resonances. Specifically, NiSe and CoSe NPs support multiple localized surface plasmons in the optical range, resulting in a broadband matching with sunlight radiation spectrum. Finally, it is validated the proposed NiSe and CoSe-based thermoplasmonic platform by implementing solar-driven membrane distillation by adopting NiSe and CoSe nanofillers embedded in a polymeric membrane for seawater desalination. Remarkably, replacing Ag with NiSe and CoSe for solar membrane distillation increases the transmembrane flux by 330% and 690%, respectively. Correspondingly, costs of raw materials are also reduced by 24 and 11 times, respectively. The results pave the way for the advent of NiSe and CoSe for efficient and sustainable thermoplasmonics and related applications exploiting sunlight within the paradigm of the circular blue economy.

2D CuBDC and IRMOF-1 as reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination: A molecular dynamics study

In this study, molecular dynamics simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of CuBDC and IRMOF-1 metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as 2D membranes in the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process. Both 2D MOF membranes possess the same 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate linkers but different metal nodes, which correspond to different molecular structures. The performance of the 2D membranes is assessed in terms of their water flux and ion rejection rate. The effects of different metal nodes and membrane structures on the interactions between the 2D membranes and salt ions are investigated and explained according to the radial distribution function, interaction energy, and ion density distribution. Our results indicate that the pore entrance of both MOF membranes exhibit higher affinity towards Cl- ions than Na+ ions. Furthermore, complete ion rejection is achieved for both MOF membranes at half the thickness of their physical counterparts (CuBDC: ∼50 Å and IRMOF-1: 40 Å). The lower water flux in the CuBDC membrane is also determined to be caused by the low water density within it. Overall, MD simulation is particularly useful for studying 2D MOF membranes in RO since it is capable of accurately modeling nanoscale structures. Of the two 2D MOF membranes tested, the IRMOF-1 membrane displays the higher water flux due to its more porous structure.

Facile fabrication of hydroxyl-rich polyamide TFC RO membranes for enhanced boron removal performance

The insufficient boron removal performance is a conspicuous infirmity of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for seawater desalination. Herein, RO membranes with high boron removal performance were prepared by adding 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and acrylamide (AA) into the m-phenylenediamine (MPD) solution and employing ultraviolet (UV) irradiation during the interfacial polymerization (IP) process. During the UV-imported IP process, the radical polymerization between HEA and AA was triggered to produce hydroxyl-containing HEA-co-AA copolymers, while polyamide polymers were simultaneously generated. Attributed to the interspersion of hydroxyl-containing copolymers in the polyamide chain segments, the superior dense and tight structure of the hybrid separation layer was achieved. Crucially, the high electron density hydroxyl groups enriched in the hybrid separation layer could specifically interact with the electron-deficient boric acid via electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bond. Therefore, in the modified membrane, the diffusion of boric acid was inhibited. Consequently, for the modified membrane, the boric acid retention rate was dramatically increased from 84.42% to 92.80%. Additionally, NaCl retention rate and water flux were also promoted. The UV-imported IP process was neither process-intensive nor time-consuming, exhibiting high compatibility with the continuous membrane production. It was expected that this work would guide the innovation of high boron removal RO membranes and other types of IP-made membranes.