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

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Abstract

Thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes were fabricated via the interfacial polymerization of piperazine (PIP) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl 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 °C, the improved NF membrane achieved an even higher pure water permeability of 10.97 L⋅m-2⋅h-1⋅bar-1 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.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51678377), Sichuan University Outstanding Youth Foundation (2015SCU04A35), Applied Basic Research of Sichuan Province (2017JY0238) and Key Projects in the Science & Technology Program of Hainan Province (zdkj2016022). This research was also supported by the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, Hightower Chair, and the Georgia Research Alliance at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The views and ideas expressed herein are solely of the authors and do not represent the ideas of the funding agencies in any form.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of New Energy and Low-Carbon Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610207, China

    Meibo He & Baicang Liu

  2. College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Meibo He & Baicang Liu

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Zhuang Liu

  4. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Tong Li

  5. Litree Purifying Technology Co., Ltd, Haikou, 571126, China

    Chen Chen

  6. Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    John C. Crittenden

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  1. Meibo He
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  2. Zhuang Liu
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  3. Tong Li
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  4. Chen Chen
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  5. Baicang Liu
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Correspondence to Baicang Liu.

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He, M., Liu, Z., Li, T. et al. Effect of adding a smart potassium ion-responsive copolymer into polysulfone support membrane on the performance of thin-film composite nanofiltration membrane. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 13, 400–414 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-018-1757-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-018-1757-0

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