Graphene Oxide Incorporated Polysulfone Substrate for Flat Sheet Thin Film Nanocomposite Pressure Retarded Osmosis Membrane

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of flat sheet thin film nanocomposite (TFN) pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) membranes for the enhancement of osmotic power generation by the incorporation of laboratory-synthesised graphene oxide (GO) into the polysulfone (PSf) polymer matrix. A series of membranes containing different weight percent of GO (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%) were fabricated via a phase inversion method with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the pore forming agent. The results show that the TFN-0.25GO membrane has excellent water flux, salt reverse flux, high porosity and an enhanced microvoids morphology compared to the control membrane. The highest power density was achieved when TFN-0.25GO was used is 8.36 Wm−2 at pressure >15 bar. It was found that the incorporation of GO into the polymer matrix has significantly improved the intrinsic and mechanical properties of the membrane.

Investigating the role of copper and zinc oxide nanomaterials in abatement of biofouling of ultrafiltration membrane in dynamic conditions

“…Moreover, A strong peak was observed around 3000 cm −1 for CH 3 stretching. These functional groups have confirmed the presence of polysulfone 47 . FTIR spectra for PSf/ZnO showed low‐intensity absorption peaks of ZnO nanoparticles at around 3500 and 1595 cm −1 .…”

Thin Film Biocomposite Membrane for Forward Osmosis Supported by Eggshell Membrane

“…To achieve a low value of the structural parameter corresponding to a lower ICP, a highly porous, thin, and less tortuous structure is needed. In previous studies on minimizing the ICP, structural parameter was reduced by optimizing the material composition [6,7] and incorporating nanoparticles [8][9][10][11] by the phase inversion method, and by employing a novel fabrication strategy using electrospinning [12][13][14]. The most effective results were Membranes 2022, 12, 166 2 of 12 achieved with a polymeric fibrous support fabricated by electrospinning that decreased the value of the structural parameter and the tortuosity to 66 µm and 1.2, respectively [13].…”

Modification of Thin Film Composite Pressure Retarded Osmosis Membrane by Polyethylene Glycol with Different Molecular Weights

“…Basically, polysulfone (PSf) is the most commonly used polymer in PRO membranes. It possesses good mechanical, thermal and chemical stabilities [ 12 ]. In addition, the high solubility of PSf makes it an ideal selection for polymer-blend membranes since other polymers or additives can be co-dissolved with it, thus enhancing the membrane’s performance.…”

“…However, the incorporation of the highest dosage, i.e., PEG 1500, tended to negatively affect the membrane’s mechanical properties. Zhou et al [ 12 ] modified a PSf-FO substrate by blending it with methoxypolyethylene glycol, together with different M W of PEG (200, 500, 1000 and 1900 gmol −1 ). Their work demonstrated that the water fluxes of the modified membranes increased dramatically when a PEG with a M W of 500 gmol −1 was used to modify the PSf substrate.…”