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Fabrication of fullerenol-incorporated thin-film nanocomposite forward osmosis membranes for improved desalination performances

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Abstract

Development and use of novel membranes for forward osmosis (FO) applications have gained popularity throughout the world. To enhance FO membrane performance, a novel thin-film nanocomposite membrane was fabricated by interfacial polymerization incorporating Fullerenol (C60(OH)n) nanomaterial, having n in the range of 24–28 into the active layer. Different concentrations of fullerenol loading (100, 200, 400, and 800 ppm) were added to the top skin layer. The structural and surface properties of the pure thin-film composite membrane (TFC) and fullerenol-incorporated thin-film nanocomposite (FTFC) membranes, were characterized by ATR-FTIR, SEM, and AFM. FO performance and separation properties were evaluated in terms of water flux, reverse salt flux, antifouling propensity, water permeability and salt permeability for all TFC and FTFC membranes. Osmotic performance tests showed that FTFC membranes achieved higher water flux and reverse salt flux selectivity compared with those of TFC membranes. The FTFC membrane with a fullerenol loading of 400 ppm exhibited a water flux of 26.1 L m−2 h−1 (LMH), which is 83.03% higher than that of the TFC membrane with a specific reverse salt flux of 0.18 g/L using 1 M sodium chloride draw solution against deionized water in FO mode. The fullerenol incorporation in FTFC membranes also contributed to a decreased fouling propensity.

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Abbreviations

A :

water permeability

AL-DS :

active layer facing draw solution

AL-FS :

active layer facing feed solution

A m :

effective membrane area

B:

salt permeability

CNTs:

carbon nanotubes

V t :

volume of feed solution

C t :

draw solute concentration

FO:

forward osmosis

FR%:

flux reduction ratio

FRR%:

flux recovery ratio

FTFC:

fullerenol-incorporated thin-film composite

GO:

graphene oxide

IP:

interfacial polymerization

J c :

final water flux after the physical cleaning

J o :

initial flux

J s :

reverse salt flux

J s /J v :

specific salt flux

J t :

flux after accelerated fouling test

J v :

water flux

PRO:

pressure retarded osmosis

PSF:

polysulfone

TFC:

thin-film composite

Δt :

test time

ΔV :

volume change

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51503205 and 51478452) and the National Research Council of Sri Lanka (Grant No. NRC-TO-16-015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China

    M. Gimhani N. Perera, Yeshan R. Galagedara, Yiwei Ren & Yuntao Zhao

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    M. Gimhani N. Perera, Yeshan R. Galagedara & Yuntao Zhao

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka

    Mahesh Jayaweera

  4. Environmental Science Program, National Institute of Fundamental Studies Hantana Road, Kandy, Sri Lanka

    Rohan Weerasooriya

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  1. M. Gimhani N. Perera
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Correspondence to Yiwei Ren.

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Perera, M.G.N., Galagedara, Y.R., Ren, Y. et al. Fabrication of fullerenol-incorporated thin-film nanocomposite forward osmosis membranes for improved desalination performances. J Polym Res 25, 199 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-018-1593-4

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