Correlating the role of nanofillers with active layer properties and performance of thin-film nanocomposite membranes

Engraving Polyamide Layers by In Situ Self-Etchable CaCO3 Nanoparticles Enhances Separation Properties and Antifouling Performance of Reverse Osmosis Membranes

“…In contrast, further increasing nCaCO 3 addition to 0.1 wt % suppressed the improvement of nanovoid formation, evidenced by the slightly reduced void fraction of 26.2% for the TFC-0.1 membrane. This can be possibly explained by the agglomeration of nanoparticles at a high concentration, thereby suppressing the participance of nCaCO 3 in the IP reaction. − Consistently, the properties of back openings presented similar trends (e.g., openings number increased from 481 to 866, then declined to 527) with increasing nCaCO 3 addition from 0 to 0.1 wt % (Figure B).…”