Novel polyethyleneimine/TMC-based nanofiltration membrane prepared on a polydopamine coated substrate

Most commercial NF membranes are negatively charged at the pH range of a typical feed solution. In order to enhance the removal of cations (such as Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺), we utilized polyethyleneimine (PEI) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) to perform interfacial polymerization reaction on a polydopamine coated hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile substrate to obtain a positively charged nanofiltration membrane. Effects of polydopamine coating time, PEI concentration, TMC reaction time and concentration on the membrane physicochemical properties and separation performance were systematically investigated using scanning electron microscopy, streaming potential and water contact angle measurements. The optimal NF membrane showed high rejection for divalent ions (93.6±2.6% for MgSO₄, 92.4±1.3% for MgCl₂, and 90.4±2.1% for Na₂SO₄), accompanied with NaCl rejection of 27.8±2.5% with a permeation flux of 17.2±2.8 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹ at an applied pressure of 8 bar (salt concentrations were all 1000 mg·L⁻¹). The synthesized membranes showed promising potentials for the applications of water softening.     

Effect of adding a smart potassium ion-responsive copolymer into polysulfone support membrane on the performance of thin-film composite nanofiltration membrane

Thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes were fabricated via the interfacial polymerization of piperazine (PIP) and 1,3,5-benzenetricart)oiiyl trichloride on polysulfone (PSf) support membranes blended with K^+-responsive poly(N-isopropylacryamideco- acryloylamidobenzo-15-crown-5)(P(NIPAM-co- AAB15C5)). Membranes were characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscope, scanning electron microscope, contact angle, and filtration tests. The results showed that:(1) Under K^+-free conditions, the blended P(NIPAM-co-AAB15C5)/PSf supports had porous and hydrophilic surfaces, thereby producing NF membranes with smooth surfaces and low MgSO4 rejections;(2) With K^+ in the PIP solution, the surface roughness and water permeability of the resultant NF membrane were increased due to the K^+-induced transition of low-content P(NIPAM-co-AAB15C5) from hydrophilic to hydrophobic;(3) After a curing treatment at 95℃, the improved NF membrane achieved an even higher pure water permeability of 10.97 L·m^-2·h^-1 - bar1 under 200 psi. Overall, this study provides a novel method to improve the performance of NF membranes and helps understand the influence of supports on TFC membranes.     

Performance evaluation of polyamide nanofiltration membranes for phosphorus removal process and their stability against strong acid/alkali solution

In this study,a quantitative performance of three commercial polyamide nanofiltration(NF) membranes(i.e.,NF,NF90,and NF270) for phosphorus removal under different feed conditions was investigated.The experiments were conducted at different feed phosphorus concentrations(2.5,5,10,and 15 mg·L~(-1)) and elevated pHs(pH 1.5,5,10,and 13.5) at a constant feed pressure of 1 MPa using a dead-end filtration cell.Membrane rejection against total phosphorus generally increased with increasing phosphorus concentration regardless of membrane type.In contrast,the permeate flux for all the membranes only decreased slightly with increasing phosphorus concentration.The results also showed that the phosphorus rejections improved while water flux remained almost unchanged with increasing feed solution pH.When the three membranes were exposed to strong pHs(pH 1.5 and 13.5) for a longer duration(up to 6 weeks)it was found that the rejection capability and water flux of the membranes remained very similar throughout the duration,except for NF membrane with marginal decrement in phosphorus rejection.Adsorption study also revealed that more phosphorus was adsorbed onto the membrane structure at alkaline conditions(pH 10 and 13.5) compared to the same membranes tested at lower pHs(pH 1.5 and 5).In eonelusion,NF270 membrane outperformed Nf and NF90 membranes owing to its desirable performance of water flux and phosphorus rejection particularly under strong alkali solution.The NF270 membrane achieved 14.0 L·m~(-2)·h~(-1) and 96.5% rejection against 10 mg·L~(-1) phosphorus solution with a pH value of 13.5 at the applied pressure of 1 MPa.     

Preparation of graphene oxide/polyamide composite nanofiltration membranes for enhancing stability and separation efficiency

Polyamide (PA) NF membranes are synthesized on a hollow fiber support by the interfacial polymerization (IP) of piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC). Then, GO is coated on the PA layer to decorate the NF membrane surface (denoted GO/PA-NF). This strategy aims to improve the hydrophilicity, chlorine resistance and separation stability of the membrane. The optimization, chemical composition, morphology, and hydrophilicity of the synthesized GO/PA-NF membrane are characterized. Results indicate that the optimized GO/PA-NF in terms of rejection rate and flux are with 0.05 wt% GO. The rejection of GO/PA-NF for Na2SO₄ and MgSO₄ is 99.4% and 96.9%, respectively. Even if the GO/PA-NF is immersed in 1000 ppm NaClO solution for 48 h, the NF membrane still maintains stable salt rejection. The developed NF membranes exhibit excellent treatment performance on dying wastewater. The permeate flux and rejection of GO/PA-NF toward Congo red solution are determined to be 44.2 L/m²h and 100%, respectively. Compared with the PA membrane, GO/PA-NF presents a higher rejection for Na₂SO₄ (99.4%) and a lower rejection for NaCl (less than 20%), which shows that the NF membranes have a better divalent/monovalent salt separation performance. This study highlights the superior performance of GO/PA-NF and shows its high potential for application in wastewater treatment.     

Theoretical study on Janus graphene oxide membrane for water transport

Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have received considerable attention owing to their outstanding water-permeation properties; however, the effect of the membrane’s microstructures (such as the distribution of oxidized and pristine regions) on the transport mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we performed molecular simulations to explore the permeation of a water–ethanol mixture using a new type of Janus GO membranes with different orientations of oxidized and pristine surfaces. The results indicate that the oxidized upper surface endows the GO membrane with considerable water-capture capability and the in-built oxidized interlayer promotes the effective vertical diffusion of water molecules. Consequently, using the optimized Janus GO membrane, infinite water selectivity and outstanding water flux (~40.9 kg⋅m⁻²⋅h⁻¹) were achieved. This study contributes to explaining the role of oxidized regions in water permeation via GO membranes and suggests that Janus GO membranes could be used as potential candidates for water–ethanol separation.     

聚偏氟乙烯-聚酰胺管式复合膜的分离性能研究

以聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)管式超滤膜为基膜,无水哌嗪(PIP)为水相单体,均苯三甲基酰氯(TMC)为有机相单体,采用界面聚合法制备了不同截留性能的PVDF/聚酰胺(PA)管式复合膜.研究了不同性能管式复合膜的截留分子量、膜表面荷电性测试、对无机盐的截留性能,以及染料废水脱盐的应用.实验结果表明,截留率R(MgSO4)由9...     

Development of barium@alginate adsorbents for sulfate removal in lithium refining

The demand for lithium has been steadily growing in recent years due to the boom of electric cars.High purity lithium is commonly used in the manufacture of battery grade lithium electrolyte.Sulfate residuals originating from acid leaching of lithium ores must be limited to below 20 mg·L^?1 during refining.There are methods to remove sulfate such as membrane processing and chemical precipitation using barium salts.However,membrane separation is unable to achieve the required purity while chemical precipitation often causes secondary contamination with barium and requires extra filtration processes that lead to increased processing costs.In this study,we developed a polymeric matrix entrapped with barium ions as a novel adsorbent to selectively adsorb sulfate in aqueous solutions.The adsorbent was prepared by dropwise injection method where alginate droplets were crosslinked with barium to form hydrogel microcapsules.In a typical scenario,the microcapsules had a diameter of 3 mm and contained 5 wt-%alginate.The microcapsules could successfully reduce sulfate concentration in a solution from 100 to 16 mg·L^?1,exceeding the removal target.However,the microcapsules were mechanically unstable in the presence of an excess amount of sulfate.Hence,calcium ions were added as a secondary crosslinking agent to improve the integrity of the microcapsules.The two-step Ca/Ba@alginate microcapsules showed an exceptional adsorption performance,reducing the sulfate concentration to as low as 0.02 mg·L^?1.Since the sulfate selective microcapsules can be easily removed from the aqueous system and do not result in secondary barium contamination,these Ca/Ba@alginate adsorbents will find applications in ultra-refining of lithium in industry.     

MOF-199@GO改性PVDF荷电纳滤膜的制备及其性能

采用原位生长法制备了MOF-199@氧化石墨烯（GO）纳米复合材料,并对聚偏氟乙烯（PVDF）支撑膜进行表面改性,以克服PVDF膜表面疏水性。通过界面聚合反应,制备了基于MOF-199@GO改性PVDF的聚酰胺复合荷电纳滤膜。采用XRD、SEM、TEM、AFM和zeta电位等手段表征了MOF-199@GO复合材料及MOF-199@GO改性PVDF聚酰胺复合纳滤膜的结构及微观形貌,并测试了MOF-199@GO改性PVDF聚酰胺复合纳滤膜的脱盐性能。结果表明：通过MOF-199@GO复合材料对PVDF支撑膜的表面改性,有效克服了PVDF支撑膜的疏水性,实现了表面聚酰胺薄层的均匀连续生长,荷电纳滤膜表面荷负电性能显著增强,其中经MOF-199@GO充分改性的复合荷电纳滤膜表现出优异的脱盐性能,对MgSO₄、Na₂SO₄、NaCl和MgCl₂四种盐的截留率分别达到了93.56%、93.04%、87.48%和87.11%。     

GO/Al2O3复合纳滤膜的制备及其稳定性能研究

以平均孔径为20 nm的Al₂O₃管式超滤膜为载体,经多巴胺改性后,利用压力驱动沉积法成功制备出能在水溶液中长期稳定的GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜,并通过改变负载量实现了对GO层厚的调控。结果表明,随错流时间的延长,不同GO负载量下GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜的纯水渗透系数均呈现先降低后稳定的趋势。且随着GO负载量的增加,稳态纯水渗透系数逐渐降低;当GO负载量增加到90 mg/m²后,GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜对一二价盐的渗透系数与截留率均无显著变化。同时,由于盐测试过程中残余的盐离子在GO片层间产生了交联作用,从而导致随着在纯水中存放时间的延长,不同GO负载量的GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜对一二价盐的截留率均呈上升趋势。GO负载量为140 mg/m²的GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜在水中浸泡680 h后对1 mmol/L Na₂SO₄的截留率可达到91.0%。GO/Al₂O₃复合纳滤膜对四种一二价盐的截留率满足：R(Na₂SO₄) > R(MgSO₄) > R(NaCl) > R(MgCl₂)。     

Nickel(II) ion-intercalated MXene membranes for enhanced H2/CO2 separation

Hydrogen fuel has been embraced as a potential long-term solution to the growing demand for clean energy. A membrane-assisted separation is promising in producing high-purity H₂. Molecular sieving membranes (MSMs) are endowed with high gas selectivity and permeability because their well-defined micropores can facilitate molecular exclusion, diffusion, and adsorption. In this work, MXene nanosheets intercalated with Ni²⁺ were assembled to form an MSM supported on Al₂O₃ hollow fiber via a vacuum-assisted filtration and drying process. The prepared membranes showed excellent H₂/CO₂ mixture separation performance at room temperature. Separation factor reached 615 with a hydrogen permeance of 8.35 × 10⁻⁸ mol·m⁻²·s⁻¹·Pa⁻¹. Compared with the original Ti₃C₂T_x/Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes, the permeation of hydrogen through the Ni²⁺-Ti₃C₂T_x/Al₂O₃ membrane was considerably increased, stemming from the strong interaction between the negatively charged MXene nanosheets and Ni²⁺. The interlayer spacing of MSMs was tuned by Ni²⁺. During 200-hour testing, the resultant membrane maintained an excellent gas separation without any substantial performance decline. Our results indicate that the Ni²⁺ tailored Ti₃C₂T_x/Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes can inspire promising industrial applications.     

Preparation and properties of MOF-199@GO modified PVDF charged composite nanofiltration membrane

As novel functional materials, metal-organic framework (MOF) and graphene oxide (GO) have received great attentions in recent years. In this work, MOF@GO nanocomposite (MOF-199@GO) is prepared by an in-situ growth method. A novel and highly efficient nanofiltration (NF) membrane can be facilely fabricated via surface decoration of MOF-199@GO onto poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) substrate before interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in order to overcome the hydrophobicity of PVDF membrane. The structure and morphology of MOF-199@GO and MOF-199@GO modified PVDF polyamide composite membrane are characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, AFM and zeta potential. MOF-199@GO modified PVDF composite NF membrane which possesses dense and uniform polyamide thin-layer exhibits higher negative surface potential (up to ~37 mV) at pH 9.5. The performance of MOF-199@GO modified PVDF polyamide composite NF membrane has been investigated by determination of pure water flux and salt rejection. The prepared NF membrane MG3 exhibited highly efficient rejection of MgSO₄, Na₂SO₄, NaCl and MgCl₂, which are 93.56%, 93.04%, 87.48% and 87.11%, respectively. This work provides a worthy reference for designing highly efficient NF membranes modified by MOF and relevant materials.     

Fabrication of anti-fouling polyamide nanofiltration membrane by incorporating streptomycin as a novel co-monomer

Polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membrane has extremely broad application prospects in separation of monovalent/divalent inorganic salts mixed solution. However, membrane fouling is the main obstacle to the application of PA, TFC and NF membrane. Streptomycin (SM) is a hydrophilic antibiotic containing a large number of hydroxyl and amino groups. In this work, the NF membrane was prepared via interfacial polymerization (IP) between trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in the organicphaseand SM/piperazine (PIP) mixture in theaqueousphase. The NF membrane structure and performance were characterized in detail. The results showed that SM successfully participated in the IP. The negative charge and hydrophilicity of membrane surface were improved. The prepared membrane exhibited good anti-adhesion and anti-bacterial performance. Additionally, when the SM concentration was 2%, the prepared membrane exhibited the optimal permselectivity. The water permeance was 89.4 L·m^-2·h^-1·MPa^-1. The rejection of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ were 17.17% and 97.84%, respectively. The NaCl/Na₂SO₄ separation factor of the SM2-PIP/TMC membrane in 1000 mg·L^-1 NaCl and 1000 mg·L^-1 Na₂SO₄ mixed solution was 40, which was 3.3 times that of PIP/TMC membrane. It indicated that SM2-PIP/TMC demonstrated excellent monovalent/divalent salts separation performance. This work provided an easy and effective approach to preparing anti-fouling NF membrane while possessing superior monovalent/divalent salts separation performance.     

Fabrication of high-performance pervaporation composite membrane for alkaline wastewater reclamation

Pervaporation desalination has a unique advantage to recycle concentrated salt solutions. The merit can be applied to treat alkaline wastewater if the membrane has superior alkali-resistance. In this paper, we used polyethylene microfiltration membrane as the substrate and deposited a glutaraldehyde crosslinked sodium carboxymethylcellulose layer by spray-coating. Pervaporation flux of the composite membrane reached 35 ± 2 kg·m^–2·h^–1 with a sodium chloride rejection of 99.9% ± 0.1% when separating a 3.5 wt-% sodium chloride solution at 70 °C. The desalination performance was stable after soaking the membrane in a 20 wt-% NaOH solution at room temperature for 9 d and in a 10 wt-% NaOH solution at 60 °C for 80 h. Moreover, the membrane was stable in 4 wt-% sulfuric acid and a 500 mg·L⁻¹ sodium hypochlorite solution. In a process of concentrating a NaOH solution from 5 to 10 wt-% at 60 °C, an average water flux of 23 kg·m^–2·h^–1 with a NaOH rejection over 99.98% was obtained.     

A CO and CO2 tolerating (La0.9Ca0.1)2(Ni0.75Cu0.25)O4+d Ruddlesden-Popper membrane for oxygen separation

A series of novel dense mixed conducting ceramic membranes based on K₂NiF₄-type (La_1–xCa_x)₂ (Ni_0.75Cu_0.25)O_4+δ was successfully prepared through a sol-gel route. Their chemical compatibility, oxygen permeability, CO and CO₂ tolerance, and long-term CO₂ resistance regarding phase composition and crystal structure at different atmospheres were studied. The results show that higher Ca contents in the material lead to the formation of CaCO₃. A constant oxygen permeation flux of about 0.63 mL·min⁻¹·cm⁻² at 1173 K through a 0.65 mm thick membrane was measured for (La_0.9Ca_0.1)₂ (Ni_0.75Cu_0.25)O_4+δ, using either helium or pure CO₂ as sweep gas. Steady oxygen fluxes with no sign of deterioration of this membrane were observed with increasing CO₂ concentration. The membrane showed excellent chemical stability towards CO₂ for more than 1360 h and phase stability in presence of CO for 4 h at high temperature. In addition, this membrane did not deteriorate in a high-energy CO₂ plasma. The present work demonstrates that this (La_0.9Ca_0.1)₂(Ni_0.75Cu_0.25)O_4+δ membrane is a promising chemically robust candidate for oxygen separation applications.     

二氧化钛调控基膜结构对氧化石墨烯复合膜性能的影响

以聚醚砜(PES)超滤膜为基膜,通过聚多巴胺(PDA)表面改性后压力沉积不同量的二氧化钛(TiO₂)纳米粒子作为基底,再沉积氧化石墨烯(GO)片层制得TiO₂/GO复合分离膜,重点考察基膜表面形貌对GO膜分离性能的影响。通过扫描电子显微镜、接触角测试仪、固体表面Zeta电位分析仪、X射线衍射分析仪等对有无TiO₂沉积层的GO复合膜进行表征,并考察TiO₂沉积量对GO复合膜分离性能的影响。结果表明,TiO₂纳米粒子以团簇状态均匀分布在改性的超滤膜表面,随TiO₂沉积量的增加,团簇密度增大,GO沉积后表层的峰谷结构更为明显,但表层的层间距并无明显改变。TiO₂/GO复合膜的水通量随TiO₂沉积量的增加而明显增大,TiO₂的沉积对GO沉积量低的复合膜通量的影响更明显,当GO沉积量为4.11μg/cm2,TiO₂沉积量为20.55μg/cm2时,复合膜的水通量较无TiO     

Potential use of nanofiltration like-forward osmosis membranes for copper ion removal

The discharge of industrial effluent containing heavy metal ions would cause water pollution if such effluent is not properly treated. In this work, the performance of emerging nanofiltration(NF) like-forward osmosis(FO)membrane was evaluated for its efficiency to remove copper ion from water. Conventionally, copper ion is removed from aqueous solution via adsorption and/or ion-exchange method. The engineered osmosis method as proposed in this work considered four commercial NF membranes(i.e., NF90, DK, NDX and PFO) where their separation performances were accessed using synthetic water sample containing 100 mg·L~(-1) copper ion under FO and pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) orientation. The findings indicated that all membranes could achieve almost complete removal of copper regardless of membrane orientation without applying external driving force.The high removal rates were in good agreement with the outcomes of the membranes tested under pressuredriven mode at 1 MPa. The use of appropriate salts as draw solutes enabled the NF membranes to be employed in engineered osmosis process, achieving a relatively low reverse solute flux. The findings showed that the best performing membrane is PFO membrane in which it achieved N 99.4% copper rejection with very minimum reverse solute flux of 1 g·m~(-2)·h~(-1).     

Enhanced desulfurization performance of hybrid membranes using embedded hierarchical porous SBA-15

The utilization of materials with a hierarchical porous structure as multi-functional additives is highly attractive in the preparation of hybrid membranes. In this study, novel hybrid membranes are designed by embedding hierarchical porous Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) with a dual-pore architecture (micropores and mesopores) for pervaporation desulfurization. The SBA-15 with cylindrical mesopores provides molecular transport expressways to ensure improved permeability, while micropores on the wall have molecular sieving effects that are essential for the enhancement of permselectivity of thiophene molecules. Considering thiophene/n-octane mixture as a model system, the hybrid membrane with embedded 6 wt-% SBA-15 exhibits optimal pervaporation desulfurization performance with a permeation flux of 22.07 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ and an enrichment factor of 6.76. Moreover, the detailed structure and properties of hybrid membranes are systematically characterized. This study demonstrates the immense potential of hierarchical porous materials as additives in membranes to simultaneously increase permeability and permselectivity.     

Humidity-control assists high-efficient coal fly ash removal by PTFE membrane

In the present study, the effects of relative humidity on filtrating coal-fired fly ash with hydrophobic poly tetra fluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes were investigated. The intergranular force of particulate matter at different RH conditions was measured by analyzing the critical angle between particles. Effects of humidity (from 30% to 70%) on filtration pressure drop and membrane fouling conditions were characterized. It was found the membrane showed optimal filtration resistance of 530 Pa at RH of 60% and the gas permeance can be maintained at 1440 m³·m^-2·h^-1·kPa^-1. Moreover, to optimize the operation parameters for this filtration system, effects of fly ash concentration, diameter, membrane pore size, and gas velocities were systematically investigated.     

Negatively charged organic–inorganic hybrid silica nanofiltration membranes for lithium extraction

Effective extraction of lithium from high Mg~(2+)/Li+ratio brine lakes is of great challenge. In this work, organic–inorganic hybrid silica nanofiltration(NF) membranes were prepared by dip-coating a 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane(BTESE)-derived separation layer on tubular TiO_2 support, for efficient separation of LiC l and MgCl_2 salt solutions. We found that the membrane calcinated at 400 °C(M1–400) could exhibit a narrow pore size distribution(0.63–1.66 nm) owing to the dehydroxylation and the thermal degradation of the organic bridge groups. All as-prepared membranes exhibited higher rejections to LiCl than to MgCl_2, which was attributed to the negative charge of the membrane surfaces. The rejection for LiCl and MgCl_2 followed the order: LiCl N MgCl_2, revealing that Donnan exclusion effect dominated the salt rejection mechanism. In addition, the triplecoated membrane calcined at 400 °C(M3–400) exhibited a permeability of about 9.5 L·m~(-2)·h~(-1)·bar~(-1) for LiCl or MgCl_2 solutions, with rejections of 74.7% and 20.3% to LiCl and MgCl_2,respectively, under the transmembrane pressure at 6 bar. Compared with the previously reported performance of NF membranes for Mg~(2+)/Li+separation, the overall performance of M3–400 is highly competitive. Therefore, this work may provide new insight into designing robust silica-based ceramic NF membranes with negative charge for efficient lithium extraction from salt lakes.     

纳米聚苯胺改性聚哌嗪酰胺纳滤膜的制备

以导电态纳米聚苯胺(PANI)为添加剂, 哌嗪和均苯三甲酰氯(TMC)为反应单体, 通过界面聚合反应在聚砜超滤膜上形成复合层制备纳滤膜。采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和原子力显微镜(AFM)等对复合膜的性能和结构分别进行了测试和表征。SEM照片证实PANI含量低时, 可以在复合膜上分布得比较均匀;AFM图像看出膜表面粗糙度的增加;膜性能的测试结果证实了添加PANI的复合膜水通量得到了提高, 同时脱盐率也有变化。最优实验条件下, 膜对Na₂SO₄、MgSO₄、MgCl₂和NaCl的截留率分别为99.4%、98.5%、85.4%和59.2%。试验结果表明, 加入PANI能够提高膜的水通量, 并提升了膜的脱盐性能。