Enhanced performance of TFC nanofiltration membranes based on UiO-66-NH2 mixed matrix membranes

Peng Hu; Liu Yang; Fangbo Zhao; Hee Deung Park; Hongxu Chen; Zhiguo Li; Chengbao Geng

doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2025.138793

Enhanced performance of TFC nanofiltration membranes based on UiO-66-NH₂ mixed matrix membranes

Peng Hu
, Liu Yang
, Fangbo Zhao^*
, Hee Deung Park
, Hongxu Chen
, Zhiguo Li
, Chengbao Geng

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study proposes an innovative strategy by incorporating UiO-66-NH₂ into a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate and fabricating thin-film composite (TFC) membranes via the interfacial polymerization (IP) method. Incorporation of UiO-66-NH₂ to the substrate membrane changes the structure of the polyamide (PA) layer of the TFC membrane. The TFC membranes have a better hydrophilicity, rougher surface, and thicker PA layer. The TFC M-3 membrane demonstrates exceptional performance: the pure water flux (PWF) of 10.58 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹, the rejection (R) of 98.2 % for Na₂SO₄ and 95.5 % for MgSO₄. Furthermore, the long-term stability of the membrane is improved substantially. It still maintains a high PWF of 10.17 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹ and a high R of over 96 % for Na₂SO₄. This study demonstrated that the incorporation of UiO-66-NH₂ to the substrate membrane can significantly improve the nanofiltration performance of the TFC membrane.

Original language	English
Article number	138793
Journal	Materials Letters
Volume	396
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2025.138793
Publication status	Published - 2025 Oct 1

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Nanofiltration
Separation stability
Thin-film composite (TFC)
UiO-66-NH

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering

Access to Document

10.1016/j.matlet.2025.138793

Cite this

@article{6406a8806ba74192a481040c5eef4c81,

title = "Enhanced performance of TFC nanofiltration membranes based on UiO-66-NH2 mixed matrix membranes",

abstract = "This study proposes an innovative strategy by incorporating UiO-66-NH2 into a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate and fabricating thin-film composite (TFC) membranes via the interfacial polymerization (IP) method. Incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane changes the structure of the polyamide (PA) layer of the TFC membrane. The TFC membranes have a better hydrophilicity, rougher surface, and thicker PA layer. The TFC M-3 membrane demonstrates exceptional performance: the pure water flux (PWF) of 10.58 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, the rejection (R) of 98.2 \% for Na2SO4 and 95.5 \% for MgSO4. Furthermore, the long-term stability of the membrane is improved substantially. It still maintains a high PWF of 10.17 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and a high R of over 96 \% for Na2SO4. This study demonstrated that the incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane can significantly improve the nanofiltration performance of the TFC membrane.",

keywords = "Nanofiltration, Separation stability, Thin-film composite (TFC), UiO-66-NH",

author = "Peng Hu and Liu Yang and Fangbo Zhao and Park, \{Hee Deung\} and Hongxu Chen and Zhiguo Li and Chengbao Geng",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2025",

month = oct,

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doi = "10.1016/j.matlet.2025.138793",

language = "English",

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AU - Hu, Peng

AU - Yang, Liu

AU - Zhao, Fangbo

AU - Park, Hee Deung

AU - Chen, Hongxu

AU - Li, Zhiguo

AU - Geng, Chengbao

PY - 2025/10/1

Y1 - 2025/10/1

N2 - This study proposes an innovative strategy by incorporating UiO-66-NH2 into a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate and fabricating thin-film composite (TFC) membranes via the interfacial polymerization (IP) method. Incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane changes the structure of the polyamide (PA) layer of the TFC membrane. The TFC membranes have a better hydrophilicity, rougher surface, and thicker PA layer. The TFC M-3 membrane demonstrates exceptional performance: the pure water flux (PWF) of 10.58 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, the rejection (R) of 98.2 % for Na2SO4 and 95.5 % for MgSO4. Furthermore, the long-term stability of the membrane is improved substantially. It still maintains a high PWF of 10.17 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and a high R of over 96 % for Na2SO4. This study demonstrated that the incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane can significantly improve the nanofiltration performance of the TFC membrane.

AB - This study proposes an innovative strategy by incorporating UiO-66-NH2 into a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate and fabricating thin-film composite (TFC) membranes via the interfacial polymerization (IP) method. Incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane changes the structure of the polyamide (PA) layer of the TFC membrane. The TFC membranes have a better hydrophilicity, rougher surface, and thicker PA layer. The TFC M-3 membrane demonstrates exceptional performance: the pure water flux (PWF) of 10.58 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, the rejection (R) of 98.2 % for Na2SO4 and 95.5 % for MgSO4. Furthermore, the long-term stability of the membrane is improved substantially. It still maintains a high PWF of 10.17 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and a high R of over 96 % for Na2SO4. This study demonstrated that the incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 to the substrate membrane can significantly improve the nanofiltration performance of the TFC membrane.

KW - Nanofiltration

KW - Separation stability

KW - Thin-film composite (TFC)

KW - UiO-66-NH

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