Effects of the Substrate on Interfacial Polymerization: Tuning the Hydrophobicity via Polyelectrolyte Deposition
1
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors have made equal contribution to the current study.
Membranes 2020, 10(10), 259; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100259
Received: 24 August 2020
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Revised: 13 September 2020
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Accepted: 21 September 2020
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Published: 26 September 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Reverse Osmosis Membranes and Processes)
Interfacial polymerization (IP) has been the key method for the fabrication of the thin film composite (TFC) membranes that are extensively employed in reverse osmosis (RO) and forward osmosis (FO). However, the role of the substrate surface hydrophilicity in the formation of the IP-film remains a controversial issue to be further addressed. This study characterized the IP films formed on a series of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) substrates whose hydrophilicities (from ~38 to ~93 degrees) were varied via different approaches, including the alkaline treatment and the deposition of various polycations. It was revealed that delamination could occur when the IP film was formed on a relatively hydrophilic surface; the integrity of the TFC membranes was substantially improved, owing to the modification of the polyelectrolyte deposition. On the other hand, the characterization indicated that the TFC membrane could have an enhanced efficiency (with a factor of ~2) when the substrate was relatively hydrophilic. It was established that the polyelectrolyte deposition could be exploited to effectively tune the substrate surface hydrophobicity, thereby providing more degrees of freedom for the optimization of the TFC membranes fabrication.
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Keywords:
interfacial polymerization; thin film composite membranes; substrate hydrophilicity; polyelectrolyte deposition; forward osmosis efficiency
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MDPI and ACS Style
Liu, X.; Liu, G.; Li, W.; Wang, Q.; Deng, B. Effects of the Substrate on Interfacial Polymerization: Tuning the Hydrophobicity via Polyelectrolyte Deposition. Membranes 2020, 10, 259. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100259
AMA Style
Liu X, Liu G, Li W, Wang Q, Deng B. Effects of the Substrate on Interfacial Polymerization: Tuning the Hydrophobicity via Polyelectrolyte Deposition. Membranes. 2020; 10(10):259. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100259
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Xin, Ge Liu, Weiyi Li, Qinyu Wang, and Baolin Deng. 2020. "Effects of the Substrate on Interfacial Polymerization: Tuning the Hydrophobicity via Polyelectrolyte Deposition" Membranes 10, no. 10: 259. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100259
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