Sulfonated Reverse Osmosis Membrane Fabricated with Comonomer Having Excellent Scaling and Fouling Resistance

Abstract

Silica scalant and organic foulant are rapidly deposited onto the surface of a thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane during the desalination process. The scaling and fouling propensity of the membranes are affected by the properties of the membrane surface. In this work, a sulfonated TFC-RO membrane was prepared with a comonomer of 2,5diaminobenzenesulfonic acid (DABS) and m-phenylenediamine (MPD) through an interfacial polymerization process to promote the scaling and fouling resistance. Detailed characterization was carried out to analyze the structure and surface morphology of the fabricated TFC-RO membranes. Compared to the nascent PA TFC-RO membrane, PA-DABS membranes exhibited a smoother, negatively charged, and more hydrophilic surface and showed significantly lower flux decline in both silica scaling and combined scaling−fouling experiments. Moreover, gradient isosurfaces for the interaction indicated a sulfonic group having stronger repulsion with silicic acid than the carboxyl group. Therefore, this work provides new understanding of a simple and efficient design of RO membranes that can be used for desalination of combined mineral-silica and organic-fouling laden water.

Covalent organic polymers for aqueous and organic solvent nanofiltration

“…However, most commercially available nanofiltration membranes are based on thin film composite (TFC) manufactured through an IP reaction, where the selective layer, often polyamide (PA) is produced on top of a porous support at the interface between an aqueous and organic solution, containing piperazine and trimesoylchloride, respectively [16][17][18][19]. Efforts to balance the water permeance and the salt retention of the IP made membranes include, incorporation of nanomaterials [10], utilization of co-monomers in the aqueous solution [20], surface modification [21,22] and search for new support membranes [23][24][25]. In this context, development of new materials as the selective layer for specialized applications is of great scientific and industrial importance.…”

A Tale of Two Foulants: The Coupling of Organic Fouling and Mineral Scaling in Membrane Desalination

“…When exposed to both organic foulants (HA or BSA) and silica in combined fouling and scaling tests, all the modified membranes exhibited slower flux decline than the pristine membrane. Similarly, Mankol et al 162 prepared a polyamide RO membrane using 2,5-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid (a sulfonate-containing molecule) as the comonomer with m-phenylenediamine in interfacial polymerization. Compared with conventional polyamide membrane, the fabricated membrane surface displayed an enhancement in negative charge, hydrophilicity, and smoothness, showing significantly lower water flux decline during combined silica scaling and BSA fouling experiments.…”

Sulfonated Reverse Osmosis Membrane with Simultaneous Mitigation of Silica Scaling and Organic Fouling

“…The development of new membrane materials and control of membrane surface properties to enhance antiscaling properties have been proven to be feasible alternative strategies. − Tong et al . investigated the silica scaling behavior on ten modified RO membranes with different chemical compositions .…”