Performance Of Nanofiltration Membranes Research Articles

Distinct Efficacies of Interlayers in Tailoring Polyamide Nanofiltration Membrane Performance for Organic Micropollutant Removal: Dependent on Substrate Characteristics.

Interlayered thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes have shown the potential to boost nanofiltration performance for water treatment applications including the removal of organic micropollutants (OMPs). However, the effects of substrates have been overlooked when exploiting and evaluating the efficacy of certain kinds of interlayers in tailoring membrane performance. Herein, a series of TFN membranes were synthesized on different porous substrates with identical interlayers of metal-organic framework nanosheets. It was revealed that the interlayer introduction could narrow but not fully eliminate the difference in the properties among the polyamide layers formed on different substrates, and the membrane performance variation was prominent in distinct aspects. For substrates with small pore sizes exerting severe water transport hindrance, the introduced interlayer mainly enhanced membrane water permeance by affording the gutter effect, while it could be more effective in reducing membrane pore size by improving the interfacial polymerization platform and avoiding PA defects when using a large-pore-size substrate. By matching the selected substrates and interlayers well, superior TFN membranes were obtained with simultaneously higher water permeance and OMP rejections compared to three commercial membranes. This study helps us to objectively understand interlayer efficacies and attain performance breakthroughs of TFN membranes for more efficient water treatment.

PH controllably induced PPTA/PEMs composite nanofiltration membranes for long-term acid-resistant separation

In this study, we deposited polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) on Poly (p-phenylene terephthamide) (PPTA) ultrafiltration (UF) substrates with strong polyelectrolytes (PEs): polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) and poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC). The growth pattern of PEMs was shifted from linear to exponential by changing substrate potential, which was attributed to synergism and antagonism of dispersion of PEs on hydrophilic substrates and electrostatic interaction between PEs and substrates. Eventually, PEMs of layer-dominated and pore-dominated regimes were successfully obtained. We focused on the transition from the pore-dominated to the layer-dominated regime of PEMs. The PEMs nanofiltration (NF) membranes in this situation showed a better separation performance due to the together work of the interface and in-pore energy barriers. The retention rate of Na2SO4 and MgSO4 was 98 % and 91 %. The eosin Y retention rate was 99.9 % and only declined 2 % after 100 h. The hindered deposition of pore-dominated regimes led to denser and thinner layers, which achieved long-term acid resistance. It maintained a stable salt retention after 185 h cross-filtration of 0.1 M H2SO4 feed solution. The performance of PEMs NF membrane was improved from a new perspective, and excellent acid-resistant nanofiltration membranes were obtained, which are expected to be used to treat industrial acidic wastewater.

Machine learning-assisted performance prediction from the synthesis conditions of nanofiltration membranes

Optimizing membrane fabrication conditions, including monomer and catalyst concentrations, reaction time, etc., is crucial for achieving high-performance membranes. However, the multitude of variables involved can result in a complex and laborious permutation process, making trial-and-error optimization challenging. To address this issue, we developed a conventional multiple linear regression model and machine learning (ML) models, specifically random forest (RF) and multi-layer perceptron (MLP), to predict the performance of nanofiltration membranes in terms of key parameters such as pure water permeance or PWP (LMH/bar), Na2SO4 rejection (%), and NaCl rejection (%), based on specified input variable ranges. The input variables utilized to construct the models are the concentration of piperazine (PIP) (0.01–2 wt%), the concentration of trimesoyl chloride (TMC) (0.05–0.15 wt%), the concentration of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) (0–10 mM), and reaction time (5–1200 s). The conventional regression model failed to predict the membrane performance. The RF model exhibited the best prediction capability for PWP and NaCl rejection with the R2 of 0.9806 and 0.9812 for training, and 0.9669 and 0.9082 for testing, respectively. Similarly, the MLP model outperformed the RF model in predicting Na2SO4 rejection with an R2 of 0.9972 for testing and 0.9844 for training. The best membrane exhibited permeance ranging from 16 to 20 LMH/bar and selectivity between NaCl and Na2SO4 of over 4000, was facilitated by specific conditions. These conditions included lower concentrations of PIP (0.05–0.1 wt%), intermediate concentration of TMC (0.1 wt%), lower concentration of SLS (1 mM), and shorter reaction times (5–30 s). The best-performing ML-based models have been used to provide insights into the relative importance of these input variables in determining membrane performance, thereby aiding in correlating model predictions with fundamental principles of membrane fabrication processes.

The Effect of GO on TiO2-doped PVDF Nanofiltration Membrane Performance: Synergistic Filtration of Large and Small Molecules Facilitated the Removal of Small Molecule Contaminants

The Effect of GO on TiO2-doped PVDF Nanofiltration Membrane Performance: Synergistic Filtration of Large and Small Molecules Facilitated the Removal of Small Molecule Contaminants

How to understand the effect of relative humidity on the morphology and performance of polypiperazine-amide NF membrane during heat curing process

Recent studies have shown that the temperature and time of the heat curing process have important effects on the nanofiltration (NF) membrane structure and properties. However, the mechanism of the relative humidity (RH), as one of the important factors in the heat curing of NF membranes, is still unclear. To analyze the specific effect of RH, we compared the heat curing results of the NF polyamide (PA) membranes fabricated with different monomer concentrations at various RH. The nanofiltration performance of the membranes appeared to be non-uniform when the RH was in the range of 40 %–60 %. Within the appropriate RH range, the rejection of Na2SO4 was preserved at about 98.5 % for the manufactured NF membranes. At high concentrations, the increasing RH created a discontinuous condensate layer on the PA layer surface, which affected the morphology and physicochemical properties of the NF membrane causing a doubling of pure water permeability (PWP) to 8.33 L m−2 h−1·bar−1. At low concentrations, the PA layer was not significantly changed with the increase of RH, but the evaporation of water from the smaller capillary pores in its PES substrate was slowed down, which reduced the capillary stress on the substrate and prevented the collapse of the substrate pore size, resulting in a nearly 20 times increase in its PWP to 39.7 L m−2 h−1·bar−1. This work reveals the effect of RH during heat curing and gives significant guidance to the design and synthesis of high-performance NF membranes.

Polyoxometalates decoration combining with solvent activation for enhanced separation performance of nanofiltration membrane

Nanofiltraion (NF) membranes are promising candidates for overcoming critical global issues of access to clean water. However, current NF membranes are hampered by the trade-off between the water permeability and selectivity as well as the fouling propensity. In this work, a facile surface decoration simultaneously combined with solvent activation strategy was adopted for the NF membrane modification via simply immersing membrane into the polyoxometalates (POMs) ethanol solution. The introduction of POMs by coordination assembly increases the membrane hydrophilic and electronegativity, and the ethanol loosens the membrane selective layer, leading to the enhanced membrane perm-selectivity and anti-organic fouling property. The permeance and Na2SO4 rejection of the optimized modified NF membrane are 14.90 ± 0.21 LMH/bar and 99.20 ± 0.38 %, which are ∼20 % and more than 3 % increments compared with those of the control membrane, respectively. The modified NF also reveals a lower permeance decline as well as a higher flux recovery toward both positive and negative charged foulants. In addition, benefiting from the biocidal activity of the POMs, the membrane anti-biofouling property is also significantly improved under an extremely low loading of POMs. More importantly, the chemical stability of the modified NF membrane is reinforced due to the protection from the introduced POMs. Our work contributes to revitalizing the prospect of developing NF membranes with excellent filtration performance and antifouling property.

Preparation of CuBTC@PET Hierarchically Porous Composite Membranes via In Situ Growth Method and Their Antibacterial Filtration Performance

Processing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into functional materials has both sustainable and economic significance. Therefore, this study aims to prepare functional nanofibers using PET, combining electrospun nanofibers with metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which is an effective solution to increase the added value of functional nanofiltration membranes (NFMs). The surface morphology of PET fibers is successfully controlled by electrospinning parameters and post-treatment. The formation of a uniform coating of CuBTC crystals on the PET surface is induced by a simple and low-cost in situ growth technique. CuBTC@PET was treated to prepare superhydrophobic CuBTC@PET (SCP), thus improving the stability of CuBTC in water and expanding its potential applications. Through a series of optical and thermal characterizations, the porous morphology formation mechanism and MOF in situ growth mechanism of SCP fibers were discussed. Then, the air filtration performance and bacteriostatic properties of SCP nanofiltration membranes were investigated. The as-prepared SCP showed a high water contact angle (146.4°), low-pressure drop (39.7 Pa), and high filtration efficiency (95.3%, 3 μm NaCl), as well as unique, broad-spectrum antibiosis potency against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). This study shows that SCP nanofiltration membranes can be practically applied in high-performance antibacterial filtration membranes.

The effect of PEG-content and molecular weight of PEG-PPG-PEG block copolymers on the structure and performance of polyphenylsulfone ultra- and nanofiltration membranes

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes obtained by forming a selective polyamide (PA) layer on a surface of a porous membrane-substrate via interfacial polymerization (IP) technique are the most effective membranes for nanofiltration (NF). The idea of this study is that addition of polyethylene glycol-polypropylene glycol-polyethylene glycol (PEG-PPG-PEG) block copolymers to the polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) casting solution tunes the pore structure (pore size and porosity), water contact angle and topology of the selective layer of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. This influences the formation of PA layer via IP since membrane-substrate significantly effects the first stage of IP reaction. For the first time the effect of PEG-PPG-PEG copolymer molecular weight, content of PEG blocks and copolymer concentration in the PPSU casting solution on the structure, hydrophilicity and performance of ultrafiltration and TFC NF membranes was revealed. It was found that increase in PEG block content and PEG-PPG-PEG molecular weight led to the increase in pore size, porosity and hydrophilicity of selective layer of ultrafiltration membranes which results in the formation of thinner and more uniform PA layer with higher cross-linking degree of NF membranes via IP. It was revealed that NF membrane flux increased with the rise in the content of PEG units from 10 to 80 wt% and increase in molecular weight of PEG-PPG-PEG block copolymer. Modification of PPSU membrane-substrate yielded the increase in selectivity of the corresponding TFC NF membranes due to the formation of more uniform and denser defect-free PA layer attributed to the rise in hydrophilicity of membrane-substrate. It was found that membrane-substrate modification by PEG-PPG-PEG results in the enhancement of antifouling performance toward bovine serum albumin (flux recovery ratio is 99–100 %) and long-term stability during 48 h operation compared to the reference membrane. Modification of PPSU membrane-substrate by F38 PEG-PPG-PEG block copolymer (Mn = 5000 g mol−1, PEG block content of 80 wt%) was found to yield the TFC NF membranes with the best combination of permeation, separation and antifouling performance and long-term stability.

Operation and performance analysis of direct hollow fiber nanofiltration: A pilot study at IJsselmeer

This study investigated the performance of direct hollow fiber nanofiltration (dNF40) membranes from NX Filtration BV on a pilot scale for the treatment of pre-treated IJsselmeer water from Waterwinstation Prinses Juliana (WPJ) in Andijk, as well as the direct treatment of raw IJsselmeer water. The objective was to evaluate the long-term fouling potential and the retention of ions and natural organic matter (NOM) using both WPJ pre-treated IJsselmeer water and raw IJsselmeer water. Additionally, the rejection of organic micropollutants (OMPs) under artificially elevated conditions, referred to as ‘spiked solution’, using WPJ pre-treated IJsselmeer water was investigated.Limited to no fouling was observed on the dNF40 membrane during stable operation when treating both WPJ pre-treated IJsselmeer water and raw IJsselmeer water, even under changing process conditions. NOM removal consistently exceeded 90% regardless of process conditions or water type. The retention of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was above 80%, with even higher retention observed for higher molecular weight values. Low molecular weight pharmaceuticals, all below the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the dNF40 membrane (400 Da), exhibited approximately 30% retention. The dNF40 membrane showed better retention of negatively charged pharmaceuticals in the spiked solution compared to positively charged and neutral pharmaceuticals.A total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis unveiled that operational expenditures (OPEX) were three times higher than capital expenditures (CAPEX) for a 5-stage full-scale dNF40 system. Among the components, membrane replacement costs constituted the majority of OPEX (68%), followed by energy costs (31%) and chemical costs (<1%). Overall, the study showcased the suitability of the dNF40 membranes for treating IJsselmeer water, achieving effective removal of NOM and PFAS.

Optimization of ultrathin polyamide nanofiltration membranes with sulfonated polyethersulfone interlayers for enhanced performance

The “trade-off” effect of nanofiltration membranes may lead to problems of lower flux and higher energy cost, which limit their applications. In this work, an ultra-thin polyamide selective layer (34 nm in thickness, much lower than the conventional polyamide selective layer) was prepared by constructing a sulfonated polyethersulfone interlayer on the surface of polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes by liquid-phase deposition, taking advantage of the inhibitory effect of sulfonated polyethersulfone nanoparticles on the diffusion of piperazine. The prepared nanofiltration membrane exhibits a water flux per unit pressure of 33.2 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, which is more than 2.5 times higher than that of the nanofiltration membrane without the introduction of the interlayer (12.2 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1). Additionally, it has a high rejection of 98.8 % for Na2SO4, which surpasses the upper limit of the equilibrium of trade-off. The study also delves into the modulation mechanism of the interfacial polymerization process by the presence of a sulfonated polyethersulfone interlayer and explores the potential reasons for the water flux enhancement. This research will likely provide theoretical support and practical experience for further optimization of nanofiltration membrane performance.

Tailoring separation performance of nanofiltration membranes by construction of Tin(II)-α-diimine coordination bonds in polyimides

Polyimide nanofiltration (NF) membranes with customizable chemical structures and excellent overall performance have attracted great interest in desalination and wastewater treatment. This work introduced novel Tin(II)-α-diimine coordination interactions to tailor the separation performance of polyimide NF membranes. Microstructural analysis confirmed the successful construction of coordination sites between Tin(II) and the diimine moieties. As expected, the resulting coordinated NF membranes exhibited uniform nanopores and reduced absolute negative charges on their surfaces, facilitating outstanding NF separation. The optimal coordinated polyimide NF membranes exhibited a high rejection rate of over 98 % for methylene blue (MB) and a low rejection rate of less than 2 % for NaCl and Na2SO4, demonstrating significant potential for application in dye desalination. Additionally, the obtained NF membranes demonstrate better long-term separation stability. As a preliminary study, this work provides a new strategy to modulate the microstructure and surface electric charge of NF membranes, potentially leading to greater application potential in dye desalination, seawater desalination, etc.

Effect of solution ions on the charge and performance of nanofiltration membranes

Considering growing efforts to understand and improve the solute-specific selectivity of nanofiltration (NF) membranes, we explored the ion-specific effects that govern the charge and performance of a loose polyamide NF membrane that is commonly used for solute-solute separations. Specifically, we systematically evaluated the zeta potential of the membrane under different conditions of pH, salinity, and ionic composition, and correlated the obtained data with membrane performance tested under similar conditions. Our results identify the pKa of both carboxylic and amine groups bonded to the membrane surface and suggest that the highly polarizable chloride anions in the solution adsorb to the polyamide, increasing its negative charge. We also show that monovalent cations of different “stickiness” can neutralize the negative membrane charge to different extents due to their varying tendency to sorb to the polymer matrix or screen the fixed carboxyl groups on the membrane surface. Notably, our correlation between zeta potential measurements and permeability experiments indicates the substantial contribution of solution ions to Donnan exclusion in NF membranes.

Improved performance of polyamide nanofiltration membrane embedded with zeolite beta

In this study, zeolite beta nanoparticles were incorporated into an interfacial polymerization procedure for the fabrication of thin film nanocomposites (TFNs). The successful introduction of zeolite beta into the polyamide (PA) selective layer was confirmed by surface attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The introduction of porous structured zeolite beta improved the water flux and rejection rate of the TFN membrane compared to the PA thin film composite (TFC) membrane. A quantitative performance coefficient is further proposed in this work, comprehensively considering the flux and rejection rate to evaluate the performance of TFNs. For five salt solutions, we found that the TFN0.3 membrane with 0.3 wt% of zeolite particles had a high coefficient of performance. With the help of zeolite particles, the TFN0.3 membrane achieved a high flux of 92.53 L/(m2·h) under an operating pressure of 5 bar. For ion separation from binary solutions, the TFN0.2 membrane with 0.2 wt% zeolite content was a better choice for a wide range of binary mixtures, which is because the addition of zeolite beta resulted in smaller pore sizes, the strongest zeta potential, and the thickest thickness (scanning electron microscope, SEM determined) of the TFN0.2 membrane. All these factors contribute to the selectivity of the TFN0.2 membrane. Our study provides an efficient and cost-effective method to simultaneously improve the permeability and rejection of nanofiltration membranes, facilitating the development of nanofiltration for water recovery.

Multicomponent steady-state modeling, performance optimization and prediction of cleaning frequency for treatment of cellulosic manmade fibre industry stream using polysodium 4- styrenesulfonate (PSS) incorporated nanofiltration membrane

Effect of polysodium 4-styrenesulfonate (PSS) in the skin layer on performance of nanofiltration (NF) membrane was analyzed for treatment of saline stream from manmade fiber industry. The NF membrane with 0.05 % (w/w) PSS concentration in aqueous phase had better hydrophilicity (contact angle: 330) and water flux of 27 L.m−2.h−1 along with significant salt rejection (Na2SO4: 90 %, CaSO4: 85 % and NaCl: 80 %) at transmembrane pressure 8.3 bar and crossflow rate 100 L.h−1. A long-term study with the wastewater showed that the intermittent cleaning of the membrane every 6 h led to 16 L.m−2.h−1 average permeate flux and sulfate rejection above 95 %.A two-component, steady-state model was used to quantify the performance of the selected membrane. Based on the fouling study, a semi-empirical theory was proposed to identify the cleaning frequency. The theory developed is useful for the operation, maintenance and recovery of the divalent salts from reject stream of such industry.

The improvement of nanofiltration membrane performance with lignin Cu complex as interlayer

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes are instrumental in separating small molecular organics and salts, finding widespread application in industrials such as food, pharmaceuticals, and dye printing for product purification and wastewater treatment. However, the performance of these membranes is often restricted by the inherent “trade-off” effect between selectivity and permeability. In this study, a copper- demethylated lignin (Cu-DL) interlayer between the substrate and the selective layer was fabricated, aimed at augmenting the NF membrane's efficiency. This enhancement primarily results from Cu2+ coordination adsorption with piperazine (PIP), serving to regulate the diffusion and optimize the structure of the selective layer. Concurrently, the interlayer prevents the infiltration of the selective layer to reduce the mass transfer resistance. Compared to conventional NF membranes, the NF membrane based on the Cu-DL interlayer, exhibited a marked increase in permeability from 6.2 L m-2h-1bar-1 to 12.9 L m-2h-1bar-1, while essentially maintaining its retention capabilities for Na2SO4 solutions. Additionally, this membrane exhibits the excellent separation of salts and dyes under various concentrations. This work can provide a solution for the fabrication of high-performance NF membranes and new ideas for the utilization of biomass.

Extreme Li-Mg selectivity via precise ion size differentiation of polyamide membrane

Achieving high selectivity of Li+ and Mg2+ is of paramount importance for effective lithium extraction from brines, and nanofiltration (NF) membrane plays a critical role in this process. The key to achieving high selectivity lies in the on-demand design of NF membrane pores in accordance with the size difference between Li+ and Mg2+ ions, but this poses a huge challenge for traditional NF membranes and difficult to be realized. In this work, we report the fabrication of polyamide (PA) NF membranes with ultra-high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity by modifying the interfacial polymerization (IP) process between piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) with an oil-soluble surfactant that forms a monolayer at oil/water interface, referred to as OSARIP. The OSARIP benefits to regulate the membrane pores so that all of them are smaller than Mg2+ ions. Under the solely size sieving effect, an exceptional Mg2+ rejection rate of over 99.9% is achieved. This results in an exceptionally high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity, which is one to two orders of magnitude higher than all the currently reported pressure-driven membranes, and even higher than the microporous framework materials, including COFs, MOFs, and POPs. The large enhancement of ion separation performance of NF membranes may innovate the current lithium extraction process and greatly improve the lithium extraction efficiency.

A homogeneous carbon nitride nanomodifier for promoting the water permeation of polyamide desalination membranes

Nanomaterial modification provides an effective way to enhance the separation performance of nanofiltration membranes, but the limited hydrophilicity of conventional nanostructures causes their poor solubility in solvents, affecting the quality of polyamide membranes for performance enhancement. Herein, we explored quasi-water soluble carbon nitride as a homogeneous modifier to improve the nanofiltration performance of polyamide membranes. With sufficient hydroxyl, amino, and cyano groups, the introduced quasi-water soluble carbon nitride significantly enhanced the surface hydrophilicity of the support membrane, resulting in the formation of an ultrathin functional layer for high-efficiency desalination. The high permeation flux of 108.64 L m-2h−1 (4 bar) was even twice and three times higher than those of the pristine polyamide membrane and commercial nanofiltration membranes, with a high Na2SO4 barrier rate of 98.84 % and a Cl-/SO42- selectivity of 76. This work provides an effective way to precisely regulate the structure of nanofiltration membranes for high-performance water purification.

Dissecting the impacts of nanobubbles and heat generated in polymerization on polyamide nanofiltration membranes

In the preparation of nanofiltration (NF) membranes, the introduction of acid acceptors into the aqueous phase generates heat through their interaction with the byproduct HCl from interfacial polymerization (IP), potentially leading to the formation of bubbles. This work aims to dissect the combined influences of heat and nanobubbles on NF membrane structure and performance. Three representative alkalis (i.e., NaHCO3, NaOH, and Ca(OH)2) were employed as acid acceptors into the aqueous phase, resulting in an increase of the consumption of PIP in the IP reaction from 10.75% to 23.65%, 19.35%, and 12.90%, respectively. The use of NaOH and Ca(OH)2 released more heat led to a thicker polyamide layer which reduced flux. While the use of NaHCO3 simultaneously released heat and bubbles, which promoted the development of a rougher surface polyamide layer, resulting in an increased flux from 20.3 to 28.3 L/m2 h bar, while maintaining a salt rejection rate of 97.7%. The attendance of acid acceptors also enhanced the degree of crosslinking and resulted in a decrease in negative charge of the prepared membrane. This study advances the understanding of the impact of heat and bubbles release induced by the addition of acid acceptors on NF membrane structure and performance.

Application of a functionalized thin-film composite nanofiltration membrane in water desalination

To prepare a thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration (NF) membrane, characterized with high desalination rate and antifouling performance, carboxylated multi-walled magnetic 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid carbon nanotubes (hereafter, the C-MWCNT-MBTCA) with a choice of hydrophilic groups were initially synthesized in this study, and then incorporated into the polyamide (PA) layer via interfacial polymerization (IP). After that, the surface morphology and hydrophilicity of the fabricated NF membrane was examined by the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and water contact angle measurements, respectively. To assess the membrane application, the solutions (2000 mg/L) of sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), calcium chloride (CaCl2), and sodium chloride (NaCl) were consistently tested. On account of the ample carboxylic acid (R-COOH) groups in the modified TFN membrane, the study outcomes revealed that the given membrane could enhance the flux along with the desalination rate upon the addition of the C-MWCNT-MBTCA (0.04 wt%). Likewise, the pure water flux significantly grew from 58.8 to 110.5 Lm-2h−1 after the utilization of the C-MWCNT-MBTCA (0.04 wt%), and the Na2SO4 removal rate promoted from 87 to 98 %. Ultimately, it was established that the C-MWCNT-MBTCA could be used as an economical modifying agent to boost the performance of NF membranes for water desalination purposes.

Preparation and performance of magnetic carbon nanotubes modified PVC substrate composite nanofiltration membranes

Polyamide (PA)/ferroferric oxide/oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs)/polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes were prepared by the interfacial polymerization (IP) process with the Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs/PVC porous membrane as the substrate membrane, which was prepared by the magnetic field assisted non-solvent induced phase separation method (NIPS) with the synthesized superparamagnetic Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs nanoparticles (NPs) as the additives of the functional intermediate layer integrated with the substrate. The effects of the magnetic carbon nanotubes modified PVC porous substrate membrane on the surface chargeability, PA layer thickness, mechanical properties, pressure resistance and permeability of the composite NF membranes were investigated, and the comprehensive performance of composite NF membranes was enhanced. The results indicated that the porosity and hydrophilicity of the Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs/PVC porous substrate membrane were improved by the migration of magnetic Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs NPs to the upper edge of the substrate membrane and uniform enrichment under magnetic field induction, which further affected the structure and properties of the PA/Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs/PVC composite NF membrane. The prepared NF membrane presented smaller roughness, thinner PA layer, larger pore size, with excellent mechanical properties and better pressure resistance. Meanwhile, the PA/Fe3O4/o-MWCNTs/PVC composite NF membrane presented excellent divalent salt rejection, with the rejection of MgSO4 and Na2SO4 maintaining more than 95.2% and 93.4%, respectively, while the permeation flux could reach 35.4 L·m−2·h−1. In summary, the modification of the substrate integrated with the functional intermediate layer had certain enlightening significance for the preparation of the NF membrane with excellent comprehensive performance.