Chemical Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Ichchhanath, Surat, 395007, Gujarat, India.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 13;9(1):1937. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36346-8.
A novel approach is employed to prepare the active layer of the forward osmosis membrane by the photo-polymerization method. The poly (ethylene glycol) phenyl ether acrylate (PPEA) and methacrylic acid (MAA) are used as monomers. The emphasis is given to analysing the effect of monomer concentration on chemical functional groups of active layer, thermal stability, surface morphology, roughness, interfacial free energy, organic fouling tendency and osmotic flux performance. The functional groups of the active layer are characterized by ATR-FTIR. Furthermore, thermal analysis (TGA/DTG) is performed to calculate grafting density and thermal stability of prepared FO membranes. Surface morphology and roughness are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Unlike control polyamide active layer membrane that suffered from organic fouling (28.14 ± 3.70% flux decline and 95% flux recovery), the photo-polymerized 75/25 active layer FO membrane demonstrated the low fouling propensity (2.77 ± 0.62% flux decline) and high flux recovery (nearly ~100%). The interfacial free energy and low fouling property of 75/25 FO membrane is also reflected in improved osmotic flux performance with 11.20 ± 0.79 L/g (AL-FS) and 8.41 ± 0.22 L/g (AL-DS) reverse solute flux selectivity (RSFS) (J/J) than control polyamide FO membrane (7.94 ± 0.22 L/g (AL-FS) and 7.64 ± 0.54 L/g (AL-DS)).
采用光聚合方法制备正向渗透膜的活性层，采用聚乙二醇苯醚丙烯酸酯（PPEA）和甲基丙烯酸（MAA）作为单体。重点分析单体浓度对活性层化学官能团、热稳定性、表面形貌、粗糙度、界面自由能、有机污染倾向和渗透通量性能的影响。活性层的官能团通过衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外光谱（ATR-FTIR）进行表征。此外，通过热重分析（TGA/DTG）计算制备的 FO 膜的接枝密度和热稳定性。通过原子力显微镜（AFM）对表面形貌和粗糙度进行表征。与遭受有机污染（通量下降 28.14±3.70%，通量恢复 95%）的对照聚酰胺活性层膜不同，光聚合的 75/25 活性层 FO 膜表现出低污染倾向（通量下降 2.77±0.62%）和高通量恢复（接近~100%）。75/25 FO 膜的界面自由能和低污染特性也反映在改进的渗透通量性能上，与对照聚酰胺 FO 膜相比，其正向溶质通量选择性（RSFS）分别为 11.20±0.79 L/g（AL-FS）和 8.41±0.22 L/g（AL-DS）（J/J）。
