Abstract
The development of high flux and solvent-stable thin-film composite (TFC) organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes was reported. A novel cross-linked polyimide substrate, consisting of a thin skin layer with minimum solvent transport resistance and a sponge-like sublayer structure that could withstand membrane compaction under high-pressure was first fabricated. Then the solvent flux was significantly enhanced without compromising the solute rejection by the coupling effects of (1) the addition of triethylamine/camphorsulfonic acid into the monomer solution, and (2) the combined post-treatments of glycerol/sodium dodecyl sulphate immersion and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) filtration. Finally, the long-term stability of the TFC membrane in aprotic solvents such as DMSO was improved by post-crosslink thermal annealing. The novel TFC OSN membrane developed was found to have superior rejection to tetracycline (MW: 444 g/mol) but was very permeable to alcohols such as methanol (5.12 lm-2h-1bar-1) and aprotic solvents such as dimethylformamide (3.92 lm-2h-1bar-1) and DMSO (3.34 lm-2h-1bar-1).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3623-3633 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | AIChE Journal |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2014 |
Keywords
- Interfacial polymerization
- Organic solvent nanofiltration
- Polyimide
- Stability
- Thin-film composite membrane
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemical Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Environmental Engineering