Development of layer-by-layer assembled polyamide-imide membranes for oil sands produced water treatment

Abstract

The sustainable expansion of steam-assisted gravity drainage, as one of the most popular enhanced oil recovery methods, strongly depends on the proper management of the produced water. The strict environmental regulations have forced the oil sands industry to treat and reuse the produced water for oil extraction. Membrane separation as a single-step water treatment technique has played an important role in removing multiple-sized contaminants from wastewater. However, fouling limits the widespread application of this technology if the membrane is not modified properly to achieve antifouling propensities. Herein, we used the layer-by-layer assembly technique to sequentially coat the hydrophilic poly(diallyl dimethylammonium chloride) and polyacrylic acid on the surface of the polyamide-imide porous membrane to improve its fouling resistance. The effect of the number of bilayers on fouling and permeation properties was examined. The membrane with the highest fouling resistance and reasonable hydrodynamic permeability of 5.2 LMH/psi was achieved by coating four bilayers. This membrane exhibited a low flux decline of 50.2% and a high flux recovery ratio of 100%, while these numbers for the pristine PAI membrane were 75.9% and 97.8% under similar test conditions. The enhanced antifouling characteristics of the modified membranes indicate the viability of these membranes for oil sands produced water treatment with an easy cleaning procedure. The key parameter that contributed to the enhanced fouling resistance of the bilayer-coated membranes was the improved surface hydrophilicity, which manifests through the reduction of water contact angle from 62° ± 3° for the pristine membrane to 52° ± 2° for surface-modified membranes.

Facile Modification of NF Membrane by Multi-Layer Deposition of Polyelectrolytes for Enhanced Fouling Resistance

“…The broad peak present in the range of 3600 cm −1 to 3200 cm −1 was attribu to the presence of amide linkage (-CO-NH) overlapped by -COOH functions presen the membranes, while the peaks located at 2900 cm −1 and 2800 cm −1 were due to aliph -CH2 and -CH bonds. Moreover, the presence of carbonyl function (>C=O) was confirm at 1650 cm −1 [16,17]. Similarly, the fingerprint regions of all of the membranes resem each other, which further hints that the deposited layers were quite thin since the cha teristic peaks of the M-0 membrane were significantly visible even after the LBL mo cation.…”

“…The effect of the number of bilayers was studied to find out the best conditions for an exceptionally performing antifouling membrane. The effective number of bilayers was found to be four, where the fabricated membrane showed hydrodynamic permeability of 5.2 (L m −2 h −1 )/psi with a flux decline of 50.2% and flux recovery of 100%, while the flux decline of the pristine membrane was 75.9% with a flux recovery of 97.8% [17]. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate polymeric cationic-anionic pair is a key for LBL technique leading to the fabrication of a promising antifouling membrane.…”

New Membrane-Forming Aromatic Co-Poly(amide-imide)s: Influence of the Chemical Structure on the Morphological, Thermal and Transport Properties

“…Aromatic poly(amide-imide)s (PAIs) have proven to be promising membrane-forming polymers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Due to their ability to form defect-free dense films with good mechanical characteristics (for example, E ≈ 3.79 GPa [14]), they are used in manufacturing membranes of various morphologies.…”

Improvement in anti‐biofouling property of polyamide thin‐film composite membranes by using copper nanoparticles

“…Most popular commercial polymeric membranes in these applications are made from polyamide (PA) hydrophilic polymer, such as thin-film composite (TFC)-PA membrane. 1,2 This membrane has high permeability and solute rejection, but its surface roughness characteristic is prone to fouling from all kinds of matter in water, especially from water containing microorganisms. 3 In water, microorganisms tend to grow on membrane surfaces and form a microbial biofilm layer.…”

“…Polymeric membrane technology is considered a potential solution that can contribute to water treatment and purification. Most popular commercial polymeric membranes in these applications are made from polyamide (PA) hydrophilic polymer, such as thin‐film composite (TFC)‐PA membrane 1,2 . This membrane has high permeability and solute rejection, but its surface roughness characteristic is prone to fouling from all kinds of matter in water, especially from water containing microorganisms 3 .…”