Fabrication of polyamide thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes via support-free interfacial polymerization

Sung Joon Park, Wansuk Choi, Seung Eun Nam, Seungkwan Hong, Jong Suk Lee, Jung Hyun Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

165 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report a fabrication method of polyamide (PA) thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes, so-called support-free interfacial polymerization (SFIP). In contrast to conventional interfacial polymerization (IP) where a PA layer is formed in-situ on top of a support, in this SFIP method the PA layer is first formed at the interface without a support, followed by attachment onto a support. Enhancing the chemical adhesion between the PA layer and a polyacrylonitrile support through the chemical modification on the support leads to the fabrication of defect-free membranes which outperform the conventional IP-assembled membranes. Importantly, SFIP allows for the precise characterization of the PA layer and the PA-support interface by easily isolating each membrane component. SFIP produces a thinner and smoother PA structure with a more wettable and less negatively charged surface than its IP-assembled counterparts, presumably due to uniform and promoted amine diffusion during film formation. Furthermore, it was found that the bottom surface of the SFIP-assembled PA has a porous structure with higher hydrophilicity and a marginally lower negative charge than its opposite surface. The SFIP method provides a versatile platform to study the fundamental membrane structure-performance relationship and to develop high performance membranes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)52-59
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume526
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2016R1D1A1B03933552), by the Fundamental R&D Program for Technology of World Premier Materials funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea (10037794), by Korea Ministry of Environment as “Global Top Project (2016002100007)” and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) institutional program (Project # SKO1602-B30).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Desalination
  • Interfacial adhesion
  • Polyamide thin film composite membrane
  • Reverse osmosis
  • Support-free interfacial polymerization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

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