CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Tianjin 300350, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2024 Sep 17;58(37):16656-16668. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c07334. Epub 2024 Sep 2.
Nanofiltration (NF) technology is pivotal for ensuring a sustainable and reliable supply of clean water. To address the critical need for advanced thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide (PA) membranes with exceptional permselectivity and fouling resistance for emerging contaminant purification, we introduce a novel high-performance NF membrane. This membrane features a selective polypiperazine (PIP) layer functionalized with amino-containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) through an interfacial polycondensation reaction. Our investigation demonstrated that precise QAC functionalization enabled the construction of the selective PA layer with increased surface area, enhanced microporosity, stronger electronegativity, and reduced thickness compared to the control PIP membrane. As a result, the QAC NF membrane exhibited an approximately 51% increase in water permeance compared to the control PIP membrane, while achieving superior retention capabilities for divalent salts (>99%) and emerging organic contaminants (>90%). Furthermore, the incorporation of QACs into the PIP selective layer was proved to be effective in mitigating mineral scaling by allowing selective passage of scale-forming cations, while simultaneously exhibiting strong antimicrobial properties to combat biofouling. The QAC incorporation strategy presented in this study provides valuable guidelines for the fit-for-purpose design of the selective PA layer, which is crucial for the development of high-performance NF membranes for efficient water purification.
纳滤（NF）技术对于确保清洁水的可持续和可靠供应至关重要。为了解决对具有卓越选择性和抗污染性的先进薄膜复合（TFC）聚酰胺（PA）膜的迫切需求，用于新兴污染物的净化，我们引入了一种新型高性能 NF 膜。该膜的特点是通过界面缩聚反应，在含有氨基的季铵盐（QAC）官能化的选择聚哌嗪（PIP）层。我们的研究表明，精确的 QAC 官能化能够构建具有更大比表面积、增强的微孔性、更强的电负性和更薄的选择性 PA 层，与对照 PIP 膜相比。因此，与对照 PIP 膜相比，QAC NF 膜的水透过率增加了约 51%，同时对二价盐（>99%）和新兴有机污染物（>90%）具有优异的保留能力。此外，将 QAC 掺入 PIP 选择性层被证明是有效的，可以通过选择性地让成垢阳离子通过来减轻矿物结垢，同时还具有很强的抗菌性能来对抗生物污垢。本研究中提出的 QAC 掺入策略为选择性 PA 层的适用于特定用途的设计提供了有价值的指导，这对于开发用于高效水净化的高性能 NF 膜至关重要。
