Modification of Polyamide-Urethane (PAUt) Thin Film Composite Membrane for Improving the Reverse Osmosis Performance
by
Li-Fen Liu 1,2,*, Xing-Ling Gu 1, Sa-Ren Qi 3, Xin Xie 1, Rui-Han Li 1, Ke Li 4, Chun-Yang Yu 4 and Cong-Jie Gao 1,2
Li-Fen Liu 1,2,*, Xing-Ling Gu 1, Sa-Ren Qi 3, Xin Xie 1, Rui-Han Li 1, Ke Li 4, Chun-Yang Yu 4 and Cong-Jie Gao 1,2
1
Center for Membrane and Water Science and Technology, Ocean College, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
2
Collaborative Innovation Center of Membrane Separation and Water Treatment of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310014, China
3
Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
4
School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Polymers 2018, 10(4), 346; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10040346
Received: 23 February 2018 / Revised: 14 March 2018 / Accepted: 19 March 2018 / Published: 21 March 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymerizations from Surfaces)
In the current study, the poly (amide-urethane) (PAUt) membranes were successfully fabricated by interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and 5-choroformyloxyisophaloyl chloride (CFIC) on the polysulfone substrates. Two modification methods based on layer-by-layer assembly were applied to modify the PAUt membrane surface to achieve antifouling property: 1. Chitosan (CS) was directly self-assembled on the PAUt membrane (i.e., PAUt-CS); and 2. polydimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (PDDA), polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), and CS were successively self-assembled on the membrane surface (i.e., PAUt-PDDA/PSS/CS). The resultant membranes were symmetrically characterized by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Contact Angle Meter (CAM), respectively. The results indicated that the modified membranes had much smoother and more hydrophilic surfaces as compared to the nascent PAUt membrane. Meanwhile, the modified membranes exhibited better reverse osmosis performance in terms of water permeability and salt rejection. After the modified membranes were fouled by lake water, the PAUt-PDDA/PSS/CS membrane presented the best antifouling performance among the three types of membranes. Combining the reverse osmosis performance with the anti-fouling property obviously, the PAUt-PDDA/PSS/CS membrane behaved as a promising candidate to be used in real applications.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Liu, L.-F.; Gu, X.-L.; Qi, S.-R.; Xie, X.; Li, R.-H.; Li, K.; Yu, C.-Y.; Gao, C.-J. Modification of Polyamide-Urethane (PAUt) Thin Film Composite Membrane for Improving the Reverse Osmosis Performance. Polymers 2018, 10, 346.
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