Fabrication of novel thin-film composite membrane based on ultrathin metal-organic framework interlayer for enhancing forward osmosis performance

To improve operation efficiency,an interlayered thin-film composite forward osmosis(iTFC-FO)membrane was designed by introducing an ultrathin and porous interlayer based on aluminum tetra-(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin(a stable metal-organic framework nanosheet,Al-MOF).Surface characterization results revealed that Al-MoF spread evenly in the macro-porous substrate,and provided a flat and smooth reaction interface with moderate hydrophilicity and uniform small aperture.The resultant polyamide(PA)layer had a thin base(without intrusion into substrate)and crumpled surface(with abundant leaves).The leaves size and cross-linking degree of PA layer firstly increased and then decreased with the Al-MOF loading.Compared to the original membrane,the iTFC-FO showed an enhanced water permeability and a reduced reverse sodium flux in both modes of active layer facing feed solution(ALFS)and active layer facing draw solution(AL-DS).To be specific,the specific reverse sodium flux(reverse sodium flux/pure water flux)decreased from 0.27 g/L to 0.04 g/L in the AL-FS mode,while from 1.36 g/L to 0.23 g/L in the AL-DS mode with 2 mol/L NaCl as DS.Moreover,the iTFC-FO maintained high stability and high permeability under high-salinity and contaminated environment.This study offers a new possibility for the rational fabrication of high-performance TFC-FO membranes.

Nanofiltration for drinking water treatment: a review

In recent decades,nanofiltration(NF)is considered as a promising separation technique to produce drinking water from different types of water source.In this paper,we comprehensively reviewed the progress of NFbased drinking water treatment,through summarizing the development of materials/fabrication and applications of NF membranes in various scenarios including surface water treatment,groundwater treatment,water reuse,brackish water treatment,and point of use applications.We not only summarized the removal of target major pollutants(e.g.,hardness,pathogen,and natural organic matter),but also paid attention to the removal of micropollutants of major concern(e.g.,disinfection byproducts,per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances,and arsenic).We highlighted that,for different applications,fit-for-purpose design is needed to improve the separation capability for target compounds of NF membranes in addition to their removal of salts.Outlook and perspectives on membrane fouling control,chlorine resistance,integrity,and selectivity are also discussed to provide potential insights for future development of high-efficiency NF membranes for stable and reliable drinking water treatment.

Preparation of electrically enhanced forward osmosis(FO)membrane by two-dimensional MXenes for organic fouling mitigation

In this work,a conductive thin film composite forward osmosis(TFC-FO)membrane was firstly prepared via vacuum filtering MXenes nanolayer on the outer surface of polyethersulfone membrane followed by interfacial polymerization in the other side.Moreover,its feasibility of mitigating organic fouling under electric field was evaluated.Results indicated that the addition of MXenes greatly reduced the electric resistance of membrane from 2.1×10^(12)Ωto 46.8Ω,enhanced the membrane porosity and promoted the membrane performance in terms of the ratio of water flux to reverse salt flux.The modified TFC-FO membrane presented the optimal performance with 0.47 g/m^(2)loading amount of MXenes.Organic fouling experiments using sodium alginate(SA)and bovine serum albumin(BSA)as representative demonstrated that the introduction of MXenes could effectively enhance the anti-fouling ability of TFC-FO membrane under the electric field of 2 V.The interelectron repulsion hindered organic foulants attaching into membrane surface and thus effectively alleviated the membrane fouling.More importantly,the modified TFC-FO membrane showed good stability during the fouling experiment of 10 h.In all,our work proved that introducing MXenes into the porous layer of support is feasible to alleviate organic fouling of FO membrane.