Using nanocomposite materials technology to understand and control reverse osmosis membrane compaction
Type
ArticleKAUST Grant Number
KUS-C1-018-02Date
2010-10Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/600153
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Show full item recordAbstract
Composite reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were formed by interfacial polymerization of polyamide thin films over pure polysulfone and nanocomposite-polysulfone support membranes. Nanocomposite support membranes were formed from amorphous non-porous silica and crystalline microporous zeolite nanoparticles. For each hand-cast membrane, water flux and NaCl rejection were monitored over time at two different applied pressures. Nanocomposite-polysulfone supported RO membranes generally had higher initial permeability and experienced less flux decline due to compaction than pure polysulfone supported membranes. In addition, observed salt rejection tended to increase as flux declined from compaction. Crosssectional SEM images verified significant reduction in thickness of pure polysulfone supports, whereas nanocomposites better resisted compaction due to enhanced mechanical stability imparted by the nanoparticles. A conceptual model was proposed to explain the mechanistic relationship between support membrane compaction and observed changes in water flux and salt rejection. As the support membrane compacts, skin layer pore constriction increased the effective path length for diffusion through the composite membranes, which reduced both water and salt permeability identically. However, experimental salt permeability tended to decline to a greater extent than water permeability; hence, the observed changes in flux and rejection might also be related to structural changes in the polyamide thin film. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Citation
Pendergast MTM, Nygaard JM, Ghosh AK, Hoek EMV (2010) Using nanocomposite materials technology to understand and control reverse osmosis membrane compaction. Desalination 261: 255–263. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.06.008.Sponsors
This publication is based on the work supported in part by Award No. KUS-C1-018-02, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in addition to the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and NanoH2O Inc. Additional financial support for MTMP was provided by the UCLA Cota Robles Fellowship and the UCLA Faculty Women's Club Russell and Sallie O'Neill Memorial Scholarship, and for JMN by the Environmental Engineers for the Future funding program.Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Desalinationae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.desal.2010.06.008