Vacuum-Assisted Interfacial Polymerization Technique for Enhanced Pervaporation Separation Performance of Thin-Film Composite Membranes

Abstract

In this work, thin-film composite polyamide membranes were fabricated using triethylenetetramine (TETA) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) following the vacuum-assisted interfacial polymerization (VAIP) method for the pervaporation (PV) dehydration of aqueous isopropanol (IPA) solution. The physical and chemical properties as well as separation performance of the TFCVAIP membranes were compared with the membrane prepared using the traditional interfacial polymerization (TIP) technique (TFCTIP). Characterization results showed that the TFCVAIP membrane had a higher crosslinking degree, higher surface roughness, and denser structure than the TFCTIP membrane. As a result, the TFCVAIP membrane exhibited a higher separation performance in 70 wt.% aqueous IPA solution at 25 °C with permeation flux of 1504 ± 169 g∙m−2∙h−1, water concentration in permeate of 99.26 ± 0.53 wt%, and separation factor of 314 (five times higher than TFCTIP). Moreover, the optimization of IP parameters, such as variation of TETA and TMC concentrations as well as polymerization time for the TFCVAIP membrane, was carried out. The optimum condition in fabricating the TFCVAIP membrane was 0.05 wt.% TETA, 0.1 wt% TMC, and 60 s polymerization time.

Evaluating Post-Treatment Effects on Electrospun Nanofiber as a Support for Polyamide Thin-Film Formation

“…The surface elemental composition of TFNC membranes was also determined by XPS, as illustrated in Figure 13 . From the O1s spectra of the prepared TFNC membranes ( Figure 13 b–d), the two characteristic peaks were noticed at 531.2 and 532.9 eV, which belong to the -CONH and -COOH groups, respectively [ 60 ]. The O/N ratio estimated from XPS is typically used to determine the crosslinking degree of the PA film, with typical O/N values ranging from 1 to 2.…”

Thin-Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membranes for Water Treatment Applications: Characterization and Performance

“…Trimesoyl chloride (TMC) is primarily used as the triacyl chloride group in the reaction, and piperazine (PIP) or m-phenylenediamine (MPD) are generally used as the amine groups in IP reactions; however, various amine-based monomers have been explored and reported in the literature. For example, Gallardo et al formulated a PA layer based on triethylenetetramine (TETA) and TMC using a vacuum-assisted IP approach [ 5 ]. Figure 1 below illustrates a typical IP reaction [ 6 ].…”

“…reactions; however, various amine-based monomers have been explored and reported in the literature. For example, Gallardo et al formulated a PA layer based on triethylenetetramine (TETA) and TMC using a vacuum-assisted IP approach [5]. Figure 1 below illustrates a typical IP reaction [6].…”