Eltahan Ayman, Ismail Nesreen, Khalil Marwa, Ebrahim Shaker, Soliman Moataz, Nassef Ehssan, Morsy Ashraf
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
Alexandria Water Company, Alexandria, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 30;15(1):15131. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97871-x.
Thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes are crucial for efficient reverse osmosis (RO) desalination, offering high selectivity and permeability. This study investigates the fabrication and optimization of TFC membranes on polysulfone supports, focusing on their structural, morphological, and performance properties for enhanced desalination efficiency using the phase inversion technique, a method that enables precise control over membrane structure. Key fabrication parameters including the concentrations of m-phenylene diamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC), and the immersion times for both monomers were systematically varied to investigate their impact on membrane hydrophilicity, morphology, and structure. Hydrophilicity was assessed via contact angle measurements, Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology (SEM), and structural properties were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The RO membranes' desalination performance was evaluated by measuring water flux and salt rejection in a cross-flow setup with saline water (10,000 ppm) under controlled processing conditions. Results indicated that variations in MPD and TMC concentrations, as well as immersion times, significantly influenced membrane hydrophilicity and pore structure, affecting water flux and salt rejection. The maximum salt rejection and water flux for the prepared thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane were 98.6% and 19.1 L/m h, respectively obtained at m-phenylenediamine concentration of 2 wt% and tri mesoyl chloride concentration of 0.1 wt/v reacted for 1 min. The study provides insights into optimizing TFC-RO membrane fabrication parameters to enhance desalination efficiency, highlighting the potential of these membranes for high-performance RO desalination applications.
薄膜复合（TFC）聚酰胺膜对于高效反渗透（RO）脱盐至关重要，具有高选择性和渗透性。本研究调查了聚砜支撑体上TFC膜的制备与优化，重点关注其结构、形态和性能特性，以使用相转化技术提高脱盐效率，该技术能够精确控制膜结构。系统地改变了包括间苯二胺（MPD）和均苯三甲酰氯（TMC）浓度以及两种单体的浸渍时间等关键制备参数，以研究它们对膜亲水性、形态和结构的影响。通过接触角测量评估亲水性，使用扫描电子显微镜表征形态（SEM），并通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）分析结构特性。在受控处理条件下，通过在错流装置中用盐水（10,000 ppm）测量水通量和脱盐率来评估RO膜的脱盐性能。结果表明，MPD和TMC浓度以及浸渍时间的变化显著影响膜的亲水性和孔结构，进而影响水通量和脱盐率。所制备的薄膜复合反渗透膜的最大脱盐率和水通量分别为98.6%和19.1 L/m h，在间苯二胺浓度为2 wt%和均苯三甲酰氯浓度为0.1 wt/v反应1分钟时获得。该研究为优化TFC-RO膜制备参数以提高脱盐效率提供了见解，突出了这些膜在高性能RO脱盐应用中的潜力。
