Multi-functional forward osmosis draw solutes for seawater desalination

Forward osmosis(FO), as one of the emerging desalination technologies, has the potential to produce fresh water from a variety of water sources by utilizing the osmotic pressure gradient across a semi-permeable membrane.Draw solution, as an essential component of any FO process, can extract water molecules from seawater or wastewater. An ideal draw solution should meet three essential requirements, namely high osmotic pressure, low reverse flux, and facile regeneration mechanism. The selection of proper draw solutes is especially critical for an energy-efficient FO process since the energy consumption mostly arises from the separation or regeneration of the draw solution. Recently, we developed a few multi-functional FO draw solutes, mainly aiming to enhance the FO water flux and to explore facile re-concentration methods. This review summarizes these draw solutes,including Na^+_- functionalized carbon quantum dots, thermoresponsive copolymers, hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles, and thermoresponsive magnetic nanoparticles.

Osmotic concentration of succinic acid by forward osmosis:Influence of feed solution pH and evaluation of seawater as draw solution

In this study, we investigated the essential role of feed solution pH so as to gain insights into the transport mechanisms of succinic acid concentration by osmotically-driven forward osmosis （FO） process. FO performances including water flux and bidirectional transport of succinate and chloride anions were systematically examined using cellulose triacetate-based FO membrane. Additionally, real seawater was explored as draw solution. Experimental results revealed that the pH-dependent speciation of succinic acid can affect the FO performances. Ionization of succinic acid at higher solution pH enhanced the osmotic pressure of feed solution, thus leading to lower water flux performance. A strong effect was pointed out on the succinate rejection for which nearly 100% rejections were achieved at pH above its pKa2 value. The rejection of succinate increased in the following order of chemical form： C2H4C2O4H2 〈 C2H4C2OH- 〈 C2H4C2O24-. With real seawater as the draw solution, low to moderate water fluxes （〈4 L. m- 2. h- 1 ） were observed. The divalent succinate anion was highly retained in the feed side despite differences in the succinic acid feed concentration at pH of approximately 6.90.

An easily recoverable thermo-sensitive polyelectrolyte as draw agent for forward osmosis process

As a potential solution to the crises of energy and resources, forward osmosis(FO) has been limited by the development of draw agents. An ideal draw agent should be able to generate high osmotic pressure and can be easily recovered. In this study, a thermo-sensitive polyelectrolyte of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid)(PNA)is developed as an efficient draw agent, and two easy and simple methods are proposed to effectively recover the polyelectrolytes. After adjusting the pH value of polyelectrolyte solutions to around 6.0, the polyelectrolyte can generate relatively high osmotic pressure, and induce average water fluxes of 2.09 and 2.95 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1) during12 h FO processes when the polyelectrolyte concentrations are 0.20 and 0.38 g·ml^(-1) respectively. After acidifying and heating to 70 °C, the PNA-10 polyelectrolyte can aggregate together because of hydrophobic association and separate from water, so it can be easily recovered by either simple centrifugation or gravitational sedimentation. The recovery ratios of PNA-10 polyelectrolyte in both methods are as high as 89%, and the recovered polyelectrolytes can be reused with almost the same FO performance as fresh ones. The results in this study provide valuable guidance for designing efficient and easily recoverable draw agents for FO processes.

Harvesting Microalgae Biomass Using Sulfonated Polyethersulfone(SPES)/PES Porous Membranes in Forward Osmosis Processes

This study was performed to investigate the availability of forward osmosis(FO)for microalgae harvesting using sulfonated polyethersulfone(SPES)/PES porous membranes.In FO process,porous membranes(<25.0 L m^−2 h^−1)exhibited more superior water flux than TFC FO membranes(<2.6 L m^−2 h^−1).Furthermore,the incorporation of SPES has been demonstrated to enhance membrane performance.The effects of SPES content on pore structure and separation performance were investigated.Compared with pure PES porous membranes,porous membranes with 40%SPES yielded an improved hydrophilicity and greater porosity.It exhibited two times higher water fluxes than the pure PES porous membrane.For microalgae harvesting,AL-FS mode(active layer facing the feed solution)was more favourable than AL-DS mode(active layer facing the draw solution)because less deposited microalgae on the active layer mitigate the membrane biofouling.FO operation combined with SPES/PES porous membranes is conducive to preserving microalgae cell integrity under the mild condition.In addition,FO membrane can be cleaned by a simple water rinse.Potential implications were highlighted as a sustainable method for microalgae harvesting because of no pressure input and less chemical cleaning demand.

Preparation of novel magnetic nanoparticles as draw solutes in forward osmosis desalination

Novel magnetic nanoparticles(MNPs),Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2) and Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2)@PEG-(COOH)_(2),were prepared by loading different amounts of SiO_(2) or/and PEG-(COOH)_(2) onto Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles,and their feasibility to be used as forward osmosis(FO)draw solutes was investigated.The characterization of the materials showed that,compared to normal Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles,the modified MNPs exhibited enhanced dispersity and high osmotic pressure in aqueous solution.The FO experiment indicated that the synthesized draw solutes could obtain a water flux as high as 10 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1) with an aquaporin FO membrane.The optimal concentration of the added tetraethyl orthosilicate was 30%during the synthesis.The novel MNPs could be easily recovered from draw solutions by magnetic field,and the recovery rate of Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2) and Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2)@PEG-(COOH)_(2) was 83.95%and 63.37%,respectively.Moreover,after 5 recycles of reuse,the water flux of Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2) and Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2)@PEG-(COOH)_(2) as draw solutes still remained 64.36%and 85.26%,respectively.The experimental results demonstrated that the synthesized core–shell magnetic nanoparticles are promising draw solutes,and the Fe_(3)O_(4)@SiO_(2)@PEG-(COOH)_(2) was more suitable to be used as draw solute in FO process.

Influence of Temperature on the Performance of Forward Osmosis Using Ammonium Bicarbonate as Draw Solute

This study investigated the influence of temperature on the performance of forward osmosis(FO) under the condition that the feed solution(FS) temperature was diff erent from draw solution(DS) temperature. An FO model considering the mass and heat transfer between FS and DS was developed, and the FO experiment with ammonium bicarbonate solution as DS and sodium chloride solution as FS was carried out. The predicted water flux and reverse draw solute flux using the developed model coincided with the experimental fluxes. Increases in the temperature of FS or DS yield corresponding increases in the water flux, reverse draw solute flux, and forward rejection of feed solute. Compared with increasing the FS temperature, increasing the DS temperature has a more significant impact on enhancing FO performance. When the temperature of DS increased from 20 to 40 ℃, the specific reverse solute flux decreased from 0.231 to 0.190 mol/L.

Photocatalytic thin film composite forward osmosis membrane for mitigating organic fouling in active layer facing draw solution mode

As a high-flux operation mode of thin film composite-forward osmosis(TFC-FO)membrane,active layer facing draw solution(AL-DS)mode suffers from the severe membrane fouling tendency,which is not addressed well.Here,we introduced a photocatalyst(Anatase titanium dioxide,A-TiO_(2))onto the support layer of TFC-FO membrane via the bonding of polydopamine(PDA)and polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE),and prepared two photocatalytic membranes,A-TiO_(2)/PDA@TFC and A-TiO_(2)/PTFE@TFC.Compared with the pristine TFC-FO membrane,both A-Ti O_(2)/PDA@TFC and A-TiO_(2)/PTFE@TFC had an improved water permeability(10.5 L m^(-2)h^(-1)and 9.5 L m^(-2)h^(-1),respectively)and reduced reverse Na Cl flux salt(0.8 g m^(-2)h^(-1)and 0.7 g m^(-2)h^(-1),respectively)in the AL-DS mode using 1 mol/L Na Cl as draw solution and pure water as feed solution.Moreover,in the 16 h fouling experiment using 200 ppm bovine serum albumin(BSA)solution as a representative pollutant,the flux decline rate of both photocatalytic membranes was dramatically alleviated from 39.7%and 21.7%in the darkness to 8.5%and 9.7%under UV irradiation,respectively,indicating a significant anti-fouling capacity of photocatalytic effect.In all,the presence of A-TiO_(2)endowed membrane with high permeability,high rejection efficiency and excellent anti-fouling capacity under UV spotlight.As bonding agent,PTFE provided the modified membrane with a high photocatalytic effect and high self-cleaning capacity,while PDA increased the membrane permeability and protected membrane against photocatalytic damage.This work provides a simple and feasible method to improve the anti-fouling capacity of TFC-FO membrane in AL-DS mode.

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.

Enhanced permeability and biofouling mitigation of forward osmosis membranes via grafting graphene quantum dots

In this paper,graphene oxide quantum dots with amino groups(NH_(2)-GOQDs)were tailored to the surface of a thin-film composite(TFC)membrane surface for optimizing forward osmosis(FO)membrane performance using the amide coupling reaction.The results jointly demonstrated hydrophilicity and surface roughness of the membrane enhanced after grafting NH_(2)-GOQDs,leading to the optimized affinity and the contact area between the membrane and water molecules.Therefore,grafting of the membrane with a concentration of 100 ppm(TFC-100)exhibited excellent permeability performance(58.32 L·m^(–2)·h^(–1))compared with TFC membrane(16.94 L·m^(–2)·h^(–1)).In the evaluation of static antibacterial properties of membranes,TFC-100 membrane destroyed the cell morphology of Escherichia coli(E.coli)and reduced the degree of bacterial adsorption.In the dynamic biofouling experiment,TFC-100 membrane showed a lower flux decline than TFC membrane.After the physical cleaning,the flux of TFC-100 membrane could recover to 96%of the initial flux,which was notably better than that of TFC membrane(63%).Additionally,the extended Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek analysis of the affinity between pollutants and membrane surface verified that NH_(2)-GOQDs alleviates E.coli contamination of membrane.This work highlights the potential applications of NH_(2)-GOQDs for optimizing permeability and biofouling mitigation of FO membranes.

Thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes with substrate layer composed of polysulfone blended with PEG or polysulfone grafted PEG methyl ether methacrylate

To advance commercial application of forward osmosis （FO）, we investigated the effects of two additives on the performance of polysulfone （PSf） based FO membranes： one is poly（ethylene glycol） （PEG）, and another is PSf grafted with PEG methyl ether methacrylate （PSf-g-PEGMA）. PSf blended with PEG or PSf-g- PEGMA was used to form a substrate layer, and then polyamide was formed on a support layer by interfacial polymerization. In this study, NaC1 （1 mol·L^-1） and deionized water were used as the draw solution and the feed solution, respectively. With the increase of PEG content from 0 to 15 wt-%, FO water flux declined by 23.4% to 59.3% compared to a PSf TFC FO membrane. With the increase of PSf-g-PEGMA from 0 to 15 wt-%, the membrane flux showed almost no change at first and then declined by about 52.0% and 50.4%. The PSfwith 5 wt-% PSf-g-PEGMA FO membrane showed a higher pure water flux of 8.74 L·m^-2·h^-1 than the commercial HTI membranes （6-8 L·m^-2·h^-1） under the FO mode. Our study suggests that hydrophobic interface is very important for the formation ofpolyamide, and a small amount of PSf- g-PEGMA can maintain a good condition for the formation of polyamide and reduce internal concentration polarization.

A review on the forward osmosis applications and fouling control strategies for wastewater treatment

During the last decades,the utilization of osmotic pressure-driven forward osmosis technology for wastewater treatment has drawn great interest,due to its high separation efficiency,low membrane fouling propensity,high water recovery and relatively low energy consumption.This review paper summarizes the implementation of forward osmosis technology for various wastewater treatment including municipal sewage,landfill leachate,oil/gas exploitation wastewater,textile wastewater,mine wastewater,and radioactive wastewater.However,membrane fouling is still a critical issue,which affects water flux stability,membrane life and operating cost.Different membrane fouling types and corresponding fouling mechanisms,including organic fouling,inorganic fouling,biofouling and combined fouling are therefore further discussed.The fouling control strategies including feed pre-treatment,operation condition optimization,membrane selection and modification,membrane cleaning and tailoring the chemistry of draw solution are also reviewed comprehensively.At the end of paper,some recommendations are proposed.

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.

Lithium-based draw solute for forward osmosis to treat wastewater discharged from lithium-ion battery manufacturing

As draw solute is the core element of forward osmosis(FO)technology,here Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N synthesized from a customized ionic liquid betainium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide([Hbet][Tf_(2)N])and Li2CO_(3) recovered from lithium-ion battery(LIB)wastes is proposed as a novel draw solute to treat Li+-containing wastewater from LIB manufacturing through FO filtration.Having high dissociation ability and an extended structure,Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N generates a sufficiently high osmotic pressure to drive the FO filtration efficiently along with insignificant reverse solute diffusion.Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N produces a water flux of 21.3 L·(m^(2)·h)–1 at 1.0 mol∙L^(-1) against deionized water,surpassing conventional NaCl and MgCl2 draw solutes with a higher water recovery efficiency and a smaller solute loss.Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N induces a more stable and higher water permeation flux with a 10.0%water flux decline than NaCl and MgCl_(2) for which the water fluxes decline 16.7%and 16.4%,respectively,during the treatment of 2000 mg∙L^(-1) Li+-containing wastewater for 12 h.More remarkably,unlike other draw solutes which require intensive energy input and complicated processes in recycling,Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N is easily separated from water via solvent extraction.Reproducible results are achieved with the recycled Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N.Li-Bet-Tf_(2)N thus demonstrates a novel class of draw solute with great potentials to treat wastewater economically.

Polydopamine/Imogolite Nanotubes(PDA/INTs)Interlayer Modulated Thin Film Composite Forward Osmosis Membrane for Minimizing Internal Concentration Polarization

Forward osmosis(FO)as an energy-saving membrane process has attracted much attention in food concentration,water treatment,and desalination.Thin film composite(TFC)membrane is the most popular FO membrane,but it suffers from the internal concentration polarization(ICP),which significantly limits the water flux and FO efficiency.In this report,we demonstrate a novel and high-performing thin film nanocomposite(TFN)membrane that employs a hydrophilic interlayer composed of imogolite nanotubes(INTs)and polydopamine(PDA).The INTs can be adhered to the porous substrate by the self-polymerization of PDA,and the as-prepared PDA/INTs interlayer displays a nanostructured network with outstanding hydrophilicity.The detailed investigation was conducted to understand the relationship between the structure and property of the PDA/INTs interlayer and the morphology and performance of the TFN membrane.The TFN membrane with the PDA/INTs interlayer performs a thinner and smoother polyamide selective layer.Correspondingly,the TFN membrane shows a water flux of 18.38 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1),which is 2.18 times of the pristine TFC membrane.Moreover,the TFN membrane has a minimized structural parameter(577μm),almost a half of that of the pristine one(949μm).It reveals that the ICP effect of TFC membrane can be effectively alleviated by using a hydrophilic PDA/INTs interlayer.This TFN membrane with a satisfactory water permeability is promising in terms of future applications.

Forward osmosis coupled with lime-soda ash softening for volume minimization of reverse osmosis concentrate and CaCO_(3) recovery: A case study on the coal chemical industry

Reverse osmosis(RO)is frequently used for water reclamation from treated wastewater or desalination plants.The RO concentrate(ROC)produced from the coal chemical industry(CCI)generally contains refractory organic pollutants and extremely high-concentration inorganic salts with a dissolved solids content of more than 20 g/L contributed by inorganic ions,such as Na^(+),Ca^(2+),Mg^(2+),Cl^(−),and SO_(4)^(2−).To address this issue,in this study,we focused on coupling forward osmosis(FO)with chemical softening(FO-CS)for the volume minimization of CCI ROC and the recovery of valuable resources in the form of CaCO_(3).In the case of the real raw CCI ROC,softening treatment by lime-soda ash was shown to effectively remove Ca^(2+)/Ba^(2+)(>98.5%)and Mg^(2+)/Sr^(2+)/Si(>80%),as well as significantly mitigate membrane scaling during FO.The softened ROC and raw ROC corresponded to a maximum water recovery of 86%and 54%,respectively.During cyclic FO tests(4×10 h),a 27%decline in the water flux was observed for raw ROC,whereas only 4%was observed for softened ROC.The cleaning efficiency using EDTA was also found to be considerably higher for softened ROC(88.5%)than that for raw ROC(49.0%).In addition,CaCO3(92.2%purity)was recovered from the softening sludge with an average yield of 5.6 kg/m^(3) treated ROC.This study provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of the FO-CS coupling process for ROC volume minimization and valuable resources recovery,which makes the treatment of CCI ROC more efficient and more economical.

Fertilizer drawn forward osmosis as an alternative to 2nd pass seawater reverse osmosis: Estimation of boron removal and energy consumption

Agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater.Desalinated seawater is an important alternative water source for sustainable irrigation.However,some issues of the current desalination technology hinder its use for agriculture irrigation,including low boron removal and high energy consumption.This study systematically explored the feasibility of employing fertilizer drawn forward osmosis(FDFO)as an alternative to 2nd pass reverse osmosis(RO)by considering the boron removal performance and specific energy consumption(SEC).Different operating conditions were investigated,such as the boron and NaCl concentrations in feed solution(FS),draw solution(DS)concentration,pH,the volume ratio of FS to DS,membrane orientation,flow rate,and operating temperature.The results indicated that a low boron concentration in FS and high DS pH(pH=11.0)decreased the boron solute flux,and led to low final boron concentration in the DS.The other operating conditions had negligible influence on the final DS boron concentration.Also,a lower flow rate and higher specific water flux with certain permeate water volumes were conducive to reducing the SEC of the FDFO process.Overall,our study paves a new way of using FDFO in irrigation,which avoids the phytotoxicity and human health risk of boron.The results show the potential of FDFO as an alternative to 2nd pass RO for irrigation water production.

Fatty acid fouling of forward osmosis membrane:Effects of pH,calcium,membrane orientation,initial permeate flux and foulant composition

Octanoic acid（OA） was selected to represent fatty acids in effluent organic matter（EOM）. The effects of feed solution（FS） properties, membrane orientation and initial permeate flux on OA fouling in forward osmosis（FO） were investigated. The undissociated OA formed a cake layer quickly and caused the water flux to decline significantly in the initial 0.5 hr at unadjusted p H 3.56; while the fully dissociated OA behaved as an anionic surfactant and promoted the water permeation at an elevated p H of 9.00. Moreover, except at the initial stage, the sudden decline of water flux（meaning the occurrence of severe membrane fouling） occurred in two conditions： 1.0.5 mmol/L Ca2＋, active layer facing draw solution（AL-DS） and 1.5 mol/L Na Cl（DS）; 2. No Ca2＋,active layer-facing FS（AL-FS） and 4 mol/L Na Cl（DS）. This demonstrated that cake layer compaction or pore blocking occurred only when enough foulants were absorbed into the membrane surface, and the water permeation was high enough to compact the deposit inside the porous substrate. Furthermore, bovine serum albumin（BSA） was selected as a co-foulant.The water flux of both co-foulants was between the fluxes obtained separately for the two foulants at p H 3.56, and larger than the two values at p H 9.00. This manifested that, at p H 3.56,BSA alleviated the effect of the cake layer caused by OA, and OA enhanced BSA fouling simultaneously; while at p H 9.00, the mutual effects of OA and BSA eased the membrane fouling.

Fabrication and performance of PET mesh enhanced cellulose acetate membranes for forward osmosis

Polyethylene terephthalate mesh（PET） enhanced cellulose acetate membranes were fabricated via a phase inversion process. The membrane fabrication parameters that may affect the membrane performance were systematically evaluated including the concentration and temperature of the casting polymer solution and the temperature and time of the evaporation, coagulation and annealing processes. The water permeability and reverse salt flux were measured in forward osmosis（FO） mode for determination of the optimal membrane fabrication conditions. The optimal FO membrane shows a typical asymmetric sandwich structure with a mean thickness of about 148.2 μm. The performance of the optimal FO membrane was tested using 0.2 mol/L Na Cl as the feed solution and 1.5 mol/L glucose as the draw solution. The membrane displayed a water flux of 3.47 L/（m2·hr） and salt rejection of95.48% in FO mode. While in pressure retarded osmosis（PRO） mode, the water flux was4.74 L/（m2·hr） and salt rejection 96.03%. The high ratio of water flux in FO mode to that in PRO mode indicates that the fabricated membrane has a lower degree of internal concentration polarization than comparable membranes.

Fouling distribution in forward osmosis membrane process

Fouling behavior along the length of membrane module was systematically investigated by performing simple modeling and lab-scale experiments of forward osmosis （FO） membrane process. The flux distribution model developed in this study showed a good agreement with experimental results, validating the robustness of the model. This model demonstrated, as expected, that the permeate flux decreased along the membrane channel due to decreasing osmotic pressure differential across the FO membrane. A series of fouling experiments were conducted under the draw and feed solutions at various recoveries simulated by the model. The simulated fouling experiments revealed that higher organic （alginate） fouling and thus more flux decline were observed at the last section of a membrane channel, as foulants in feed solution became more concentrated. Furthermore, the water flux in FO process declined more severely as the recovery increased due to more foulants transported to membrane surface with elevated solute concentrations at higher recovery, which created favorable solution environments for organic adsorption. The fouling reversibility also decreased at the last section of the membrane channel, suggesting that fouling distribution on FO membrane along the module should be carefully examined to improve overall cleaning efficiency. Lastly, it was found that such fouling distribution observed with co-current flow operation became less pronounced in counter- current flow operation of FO membrane process.

Design of nanofibre interlayer supported forward osmosis composite membranes and its evaluation in fouling study with cleaning

Nanofibre-supported forward osmosis(FO)membranes have gained popularity owing to their low structural parameters and high water flux.However,the nanofibrous membranes are less stable in long-term use,and their fouling behaviours with foulants in both feed solution(FS)and draw solution(DS)is less studied.This study developed a nanofibrous thin-film composite(TFC)FO membrane by designing a tiered dual-layer nanofibrous substrate to enhance membrane stability during long-term usage and cleaning.Various characterisation methods were used to study the effect of the electrospun nanofibre interlayer and drying time,which is the interval after removing the M-phenylenediamine(MPD)solution and before reacting with trimesoyl chloride(TMC)solution,on the intrinsic separation FO performance.The separation performance of the dual-layer nanofibrous FO membranes was examined using model foulants(sodium alginate and bovine serum albumin)in both the FS and DS.The dual-layer nanofibrous substrate was superior to the single-layer nanofibrous substrate and showed a flux of 30.2 L/m^(2)/h(LMH)when using 1.5 mol/L NaCl against deionised(DI)water in the active layer facing draw solution(AL-DS)mode.In the fouling test,the water flux was effectively improved without sacrificing the water/solute selectivity under the condition that foulants existed in both the FS and DS.In addition,the dual-layer nanofibrous TFC FO membrane was more robust during the fouling test and cleaning.