Preparation and characterization of novel thin film composite polyamide nanofiltration membranes for water treatment

In the current study, a novel thin film composite nanofiltration membrane was prepared by interfacial polymerization and evaluated for water softening. Its nanofiltration performance was evaluated by cross flow filtration using NaCl (1 g/l) and MgSO4 (1 g/l) solution at 5 and 10 bars, 25 °C and 10 l/min. The morphological study was investigated by SEM and AFM. In addition, the hydrophilicity of membranes was examined by contact angel measurements. Thin-film composite polyamide nanofiltration membrane was fabricated using interfacial polymerization of 1, 3-phenylenediamine (PDA) with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) onto PES ultrafiltration membrane prepared with immersion precipitation technique. A rough, dense and hydrophile film was formed on the PES support membrane by interfacial polymerization. The water permeability of composite membrane was 7 and 21 kg.m -2.h-1 at 5 and 10 bars, respectively. Moreover, the rejection to the divalent salt MgSO4 (85 and 90%) was high compared to the monovalent salt NaCl (64 and 67%).

Keywords:

Composite Membrane , Nanofiltration , Water Treatment