Development of polyelectrolyte multilayer thin film composite membrane for water desalination application

Fadhillah, F.; Zaidi, S.M.J.; Khan, Z.; Khaled, M.M.; Rahman, F.; Hammond, P.T.

Type

Article

Authors

Fadhillah, F.
Zaidi, S.M.J.
Khan, Z.
Khaled, M.M.
Rahman, F.
Hammond, P.T.

Date

2013-06

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http://hdl.handle.net/10754/597705

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Abstract

Thin film composite membranes were fabricated via spin assisted layer by layer (SA-LbL) assembly by depositing alternate layers of poly(allyl amine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) on a polysulfone (PSF) ultrafiltration membrane as support. The suitability of these membranes for potential water purification applications was explored by testing the stability of the deposited thin films and their permeation characteristic using cross-flow permeation cell. Permeation test conducted at a pressure of 40bar, temperature of 25°C, pH of 6 and feed water concentration of 2000ppm NaCl demonstrated that the PAH/PAA multilayer film deposited on polysulfone support remained stable and intact under long-term test conditions. The 120 bilayers of PAH/PAA membrane tested at the above condition showed flux of 15L/m2.h and salt rejection of 65%. The membrane performance evaluation also revealed that SA-LbL PAH/PAA membrane follows the characteristics of the solution diffusion membrane. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Citation

Fadhillah F, Zaidi SMJ, Khan Z, Khaled MM, Rahman F, et al. (2013) Development of polyelectrolyte multilayer thin film composite membrane for water desalination application. Desalination 318: 19–24. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2013.03.011.

Sponsors

This work was undertaken as part of research collaboration program in clean water and clean energy, between King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA. The authors wish to thankfully acknowledge KFUPM for providing the financial support for this research under project R5-CW-08. We also wish to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Rachid Sougrat and Mr. Guang Chou Wang of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, for providing their facilities and help in TEM imaging and characterization.