Department of Chemical Engineering , Monash University , Clayton , Victoria 3800 , Australia.
South East Water , PO Box 2268, Seaford , Victoria 3198 , Australia.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Oct 10;10(40):34464-34474. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b10550. Epub 2018 Sep 26.
A novel thin-film nanocomposite forward-osmosis (FO) membrane was fabricated on hydrophilic nylon microfiltration (MF) support by interfacial polymerization with the assistance of an intermediate layer of graphene oxide and multiwall carbon nanotube (GO/MWCNT). The chemical composition, structure, and surface properties of the synthesized FO membranes were studied using various characterization methods. It was found that the GO/MWCNT composite layer not only provided ultrafast nanochannels for water transport but also reduced the thickness of the polyamide layer by up to 60%. As a result, the novel FO membrane exhibited a higher water flux and lower reverse salt flux compared with the membrane synthesized without the GO/MWCNT intermediate layer. This method offers promising opportunities to fabricate thin-film composite membranes on microfiltration substrates for FO application with inhibited concentration polarization phenomenon and expected separation performance.
一种新型的薄膜纳米复合正向渗透（FO）膜在亲水性尼龙微滤（MF）支撑体上通过界面聚合制备而成，该聚合过程在氧化石墨烯和多壁碳纳米管（GO/MWCNT）中间层的辅助下进行。采用多种表征方法研究了合成的 FO 膜的化学组成、结构和表面性质。结果发现，GO/MWCNT 复合层不仅为水传输提供了超快的纳米通道，而且将聚酰胺层的厚度减少了 60%。因此，与没有 GO/MWCNT 中间层的膜相比，新型 FO 膜表现出更高的水通量和更低的反向盐通量。该方法为在 MF 基底上制备用于 FO 应用的薄膜复合膜提供了有前景的机会，可抑制浓差极化现象并获得预期的分离性能。
