Composite nanofiltration membranes synthesized from PAMAM and TMC by interfacial polymerization

A novel NF membrane prepared with poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer and trimesoyl chlo- ride (TMC) by interfacial polymerization on polysulfone (PSF) ultrafiltration membrane was investigated. Field emission scanning electron microcopy (FESEM) ,atomic force micrograph(AFM) and contact angle(CA) of pure water on PA and PSF substrate were employed to characterize the chemical and physical properties of membranes. The PAMAM concentration,retention of salt solutions and organics were studied on the performance of the NF membrane. From the analyses of SEM and AFM,the polyamide active skin layers of the composite membranes are dense,rough,and finely dispersed nodular structures,packed tightly by the spherical globules. The contact angle of PA nanofitration membrane decreased after polymerization. The higher PAMAM concentration can result in lower flux and higher rejection. The salt rejection of PA membranes decreases in the order K2SO4 > Na2SO4 > MgSO4 > MgCl2 > CaCl2 > NaCl,which indicates that the resulting membranes is nagatively charged. The pH increases from 3 to 10 in the feed resulting in the decrease of the flux and the increase of the rejection for Na2SO4 solution. The molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of the composite NF membrane is nearly 860 kg/mol. The resulted PA membrane can be used to separate small organics and salt solutions.