A Rapid-Ab/Desorption and Portable Photothermal MIL- 101(Cr) Nanofibrous Composite Membrane Fabricated by Spray-Electrospinning for Atmosphere Water Harvesting

MIL-101(Cr)is a promising moisture absorbent for solar-driven water harvesting from moisture to tackle the worldwide water shortage issue.However,the MIL-101(Cr)powder suffers from a long ab/desorption cycle due to the crystal aggregation caused by its inherent powder properties.Here,we demonstrate a MIL-101(Cr)nanofibrous composite membrane with a nanofibrous matrix where MIL-101(Cr)is monodisperse in the 3D porous nanofibrous matrix through a simple spray-electrospinning strategy.The continuous porous nanofibrous matrix not only offers sufficient sites for MIL-101(Cr)loading but also provides rapid moisture transport channels,resulting in a super-rapid ab/desorption duration of 50 min(including an absorption process for 40 min and a desorption process for 10 min)and multicycle daily water production of 15.9 L kg^(−1) d^(−1).Besides,the MIL-101(Cr)nanofibrous composite membrane establishes a high solar absorption of 92.8%,and excellent photothermal conversion with the surface temperature of 70.7°C under one-sun irradiation.In addition,the MIL-101(Cr)nanofibrous composite membrane shows excellent potential for practical application due to its flexibility,portability,and use stability.This work provides a new perspective of shortening MOF ab/desorption duration by introducing a porous nanofibrous matrix to improve the specific water production for the solar-driven ab/desorption water harvesting technique.

Substrate matters:The influences of substrate layers on the performances of thin-film composite reverse osmosis membranes

Thin-film composite(TFC) reverse osmosis(RO) membranes are playing the dominating role in desalination.Tremendous efforts have been put in the studies on the polyamide selective layers. However, the effect of the substrate layers is far less concerned. In this review, we summarize the works that consider the impacts of the substrates, including pore sizes, surface hydrophilicity, on the processes of interfacial polymerization and consequently on the morphologies of the active layers and on final RO performances of the composite membranes. All the works indicate that the pore sizes and surface hydrophilicity of the substrate evidently influence the RO performances of the composite membranes. Unfortunately, we find that the observations and understandings on the substrate effect are frequently varied from case to case because of the lack of substrates with uniform pores and surface chemistries. We suggest using track-etched membranes or anodized alumina membranes having relatively uniform pores and functionalizable pore walls as model substrates to elucidate the substrate effect.Moreover, we argue that homoporous membranes derived from block copolymers have the potential to be used as substrates for the large-scale production of high-performances TFC RO membranes.

Recent advances in multi-layer composite polymeric membranes for CO_2 separation: A review

The development of multilayer composite membranes for CO_2 separation has gained increasing attention due to the desire for energy efficient technologies. Multilayer composite membranes have many advantages, including the possibility to optimize membrane materials independently by layers according to their different functions and to reduce the overall transport resistance by using ultrathin selective layers, and less limitations on the material mechanical properties and processability. A comprehensive review is required to capture details of the progresses that have already been achieved in developing multilayer composite membranes with improved CO_2 separation performance in the past 15-20 years.In this review, various composite membrane preparation methods were compared, advances in composite membranes for CO_2/CH_4 separation,CO_2/N_2 and CO_2/H_2 separation were summarized with detailed data, and challenges facing for the CO_2 separation using composite membranes,such as aging, plasticization and long-term stability, were discussed. Finally the perspectives and future research directions for composite membranes were presented.

Reducing active layer thickness of polyamide composite membranes using a covalent organic framework interlayer in interfacial polymerization

Polyamide(PA)-based thin-film composite membranes exhibit enormous potential in water purification,owing to their facile fabrication,decent performance and desirable stability.However,the thick PA active layer with high transport resistance from the conventional interfacial polymerization hampers their applications.The controllable fabrication of a thin PA active layer is essential for high separation efficiency but still challenging.Herein,a covalent organic framework TpPa-1 interlayer was firstly deposited on a polyethersulfone(PES)substrate to reduce the thickness of PA active layer in interfacial polymerization.The abundant pores of TpPa-1 increase the local concentration of amine monomers by adsorbing piperazine molecules,while hydrogen bonds between hydrophilic groups of TpPa-1 and piperazine molecules slow down their diffusion rate.Arising from those synergetic effects,the PA active layer is effectively reduced from 200 nm to 120 nm.By optimizing TpPa-1 interlayer and PA active layer,the water flux of resultant membranes can reach 171.35 L·m^-2·h^-1·MPa^-1,which increased by 125.4%compared with PA/PES membranes,while the rejection rates of sodium sulfate and dyes solution remained more than 90%and 99%,respectively.Our strategy may stimulate rational design of ultrathin PA-based nanofiltration membranes with high performances.

STUDY ON CONCENTRATING SULFURIC ACID SOLUTION BY MEMBRANE DISTILLATION WITH METAL - PTFE COMPOSITE MEMBRANE

concentrating sulfuric acid by membrane distillation in a flat sheet direct contact membrane distillation device with a self made metal PTFE composite membrane has been studied. The effect of sulfuric acid concentration of feed, the flowrate and liquor temperature in high temperature side and low temperature side on the flux and separation efficiency is investigated. The stability of this composite membrane is also inspected. The experimental results show that the metal PTFE composite membrane can be used in membrane distillation, and its properties are very stable. It is feasible to concentrate sulfuric acid by membrane distillation with this membrane.

Impregnation of carbonaceous nanofibers into glassy polymer-based composite membrane for CO_2 separation

The development of defect-free composite membrane(CM) is often challenging due to poor dispersion and distribution of filler particles in the polymer matrix. Despite the attractive physicochemical properties and gas separation performance of carbon nanotube(CNT) based CM, CNT displayed poor dispersion characteristics in most polymer matrix domain. Instead of incorporating CNT, a viable alternative, carbon nanofiber(CNF) which exhibits similar properties as CNT, but improved dispersion quality in the polymer matrix is found. In this work,CNF particles were incorporated in poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)(PPOdm) polymer continuous phase for CM development. The optimum gas separation performance of the PPOdm-CNF CM(11.25 at 197.02 barrer of CO_2 permeability) was obtained at 3 wt% of CNF loading. Compared to pristine PPOdmmembrane,CO_2 permeability and CO_2/CH_4 selectivity of PPOdm-3 wt% CNF CM were enhanced by 180% and 55%, respectively.At 3 wt% CNF loading, the filler particles were dispersed and distributed more homogenously, in which no obvious CNF agglomeration was observed. In addition, the incorporation of CNF particles also enhanced the mechanical and thermal properties of the resultant CM.

STUDIES ON REVERSE OSMOSIS SEPARATION OF AQUEOUS ORGANIC SOLUTIONS BY PAA/PSF COMPOSITE MEMBRANE

The reverse osmosis （RO） separation of aqueous organic solutions, such as alcohols, amines, aldehydes, acids,ketones, and esters etc., by PAA （polyacrylic acid）/PSF （polysulfone） composite membrane has been studied. It was foundthat the separation results for aliphatic alcohols, amines and aldehydes are satisfactory, the solute rejection （Ra） and thevolume fluxes of solutions （Jv） for 1000 ppm ethanol, ethylamine and ethyl aldehyde are 66.2%, 61.0%, 84.0% and 0.90×10-6, 0.35×10-6, 0.40×10-6 m3/m2·s, respectively, at 5.0 MPa and 30℃. Ra increased with increasing molecular weights ofalcohols, amines and aldehydes, and the Ra for n-amyl alcohol, n-butylamine and n-butyl aldehyde reached 94.3%, 88.6%and 96.0%, respectively. Satisfactory separation results （Ra】70%） for ketones, esters, phenols and polyols have beenobtained with the PAA/PSF composite membrane. The effect of operating pressure on the properties of reverse osmosis hasalso been investigated. Analysis of experimental data with Spiegler-Kedem’s transport model has been carried out and themembrane constants such as reflection coefficient σ, solute and hydraulic permeabilities ω and Lp for several organic soluteshave been obtained.

Pervaporation Separation of Butanol-Water Mixtures Using Polydimethylsiloxane/Ceramic Composite Membrane

Pervaporation has attracted considerable interest owing to its potential application in recovering biobutanol from biomass acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation broth. In this study, butanol was recovered from its aqueous solution using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/ceramic composite pervaporation membrane. The effects of operating temperature, feed concentration, feed flow rate and operating time on the membrane pervaporation performance were investigated. It was found that with the increase of temperature or butanol concentration in the feed, the total flux through the membrane increased while the separation factor decreased slightly. As the feed flow rate increased, the total flux increased gradually while the separation factor changed little. At 40°C and 1% (by mass) butanol in the feed, the total flux and separation factor of the membrane reached 457.4 g·m?2·h?1 and 26.1, respectively. The membrane with high flux is suitable for recovering butanol from ABE fermentation broth.

SEPARATION OF PROPANE FROM PROPANE/NITROGEN MIXTURES USING PDMS COMPOSITE MEMBRANES BY VAPOR PERMEATION

This study deals with polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)/polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF) composite membranes for propane separation from propane/nitrogen mixtures,which is relevant to the recovery of propane in petroleum and chemical industry.The surface and cross-section morphology of PDMS/PVDF composite membranes was observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM).The surface morphology of PDMS/PVDF composite membranes is very dense.There are three layers,the thin dense top layer,finger-like porous middle layer an...

Innovative hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether(PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)composite membrane for vacuum membrane distillation

Though membrane distillation(MD)has gained more and more attention in the field of desalination,the wetting phenomenon was still a non-negligible problem.In this work,a method combined dip-coating and UV in situ polymerization for preparing hydrophobic/hydrophilic perfluoropolyether(PFPE)/polyvinylidene fluoride composite membranes.This composite membrane consisted of a top thin hydrophobic coating layer and hydrophilic substrate membrane.In terms of anti-wetting properties,contact angle and liquid entry pressure of all composite membranes(except for those based on 0.45μm)exceeded 160°and 0.3 MPa,respectively.In particular,the desalination performance was tested in vacuum membrane distillation tests by feeding 3.5%(mass)saline solution(NaCl)at 60℃.The composite membranes with larger support pore size and lower PFPE content had higher membrane distillation flux.And for stability tests(testing the 0.22μm membrane coated by 5%(mass)PFPE),the highest MD flux29.08 kg·m^(-2)·h^(-1) and stable salt rejection(over 99.99%)during the period.Except that,the effects of coating material concentration and pore sizes of substrate membrane were also investigated for surface morphology and topography,porosity,mechanical strength and pore size characteristics.This work provided a simple and effective alternative to prepare excellent hydrophobic composite membranes for MD applications.

Novel polybenzimidazole/graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets composite membrane for the application of acid-alkaline amphoteric water electrolysis

It is a great challenge to develop membrane materials with high performance and long durability for acidalkaline amphoteric water electrolysis.Hence,the graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_(3)N_(4))nanosheets were compounded with the(2,2'-m-phenylene)-5,5'-benzimidazole(m-PBI)matrix for the preparation of m-PBI/g-C_(3)N_(4) composite membranes.The synthesis of g-C_(3)N_(4) nanosheets and m-PBI matrix have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscoy(TEM)and ^(1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra(^(1)H NMR),respectively.The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR)and SEM of the composite membranes showed the g-C_(3)N_(4) nanosheets were well dispersed in the m-PBI/g-C_(3)N_(4) composite membrane.The mechanical properties test exhibited the good mechanical strength,and the TGA curves of m-PBI showed the high thermal stability of composite membranes.Besides,the m-PBI/g-C_(3)N_(4) composite membrane showed excellent proton and hydroxide ion conductivity,which was higher than pure m-PBI and Nafion 115 membrane.The acid-alkaline amphoteric water electrolysis test showed m-PBI/1%g-C_(3)N_(4) composite membrane has the best performance with a current density of 800 mA cm^(-2) at cell voltage of 1.98 V at 20℃.It showed that m-PBI/g-C_(3)N_(4) composite membrane has a good application prospect for acid-alkaline amphoteric water electrolysis.

High-permeance crosslinked PTMSP thin-film composite membranes as supports for CO_2 selective layer formation

In the development of the composite gas separation membranes for post-combustion CO_2 capture, little attention is focused on the optimization of the membrane supports, which satisfy the conditions of this technology. The primary requirements to the membrane supports are concerned with their high CO_2 permeance. In this work, the membrane supports with desired characteristics were developed as high-permeance gas separation thin film composite(TFC) membranes with the thin defect-free layer from the crosslinked highly permeable polymer, poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne](PTMSP). This layer is insoluble in chloroform and can be used as a gutter layer for the further deposition of the CO_2-selective materials from the organic solvents. Crosslinking of PTMSP was performed using polyethyleneimine(PEI) and poly(ethyleneglycol) diglycidyl ether(PEGDGE) as crosslinking agents. Optimal concentrations of PEI in PTMSP and PEGDGE in methanol were selected in order to diminish the undesirable effect on the final membrane gas transport characteristics. The conditions of the kiss-coating technique for the deposition of the thin defect-free PTMSP-based layer, namely, composition of the casting solution and the speed of movement of the porous commercial microfiltration-grade support, were optimized. The procedure of post-treatment with alcohols and alcohol solutions was shown to be crucial for the improvement of gas permeance of the membranes with the crosslinked PTMSP layer having thickness ranging within 1-2.5 μm. The claimed membranes showed the following characteristics: CO_2 permeance is equal to 50—54 m^3(STP)/(m^2 h bar)(18,500—20,000 GPU), ideal CO_2/N_2 selectivity is 3.6-3.7, and their selective layers are insoluble in chloroform. Thus, the developed highpermeance TFC membranes are considered as a promising supports for further modification by enhanced CO_2 selective layer formation.

Preparation and properties of metal-PVA composite hydrophilic ultrafiltration membranes

Metal-polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) composite ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by coating a certain concentration of PVA solution on metallic fiber sintered membranes. The effects of preparation conditions, such as the coating solution concentration, sequence and times of coating, and heat-treatment on the properties of the composite membranes were studied. The results show that the hole diameter of the composite membrane decreases with the increase of the concentration of PVA, the hole diameter of composite membrane is different when the sequence of coating is different. When the higher concentration of PVA solution is used to coat the metallic membrane for the first time and the other smaller one for the second time, the hole diameter of the composite membrane is relatively small, compared with that of the composite membrane made by the smaller concentration of PVA solution for the first time and the other higher one for the second time. The holes of the composite membrane contract and the stability of the membrane is improved by heat treatment. When metal-PVA composite hydrophilic membranes are used to treat the oil/water emulsion with the concentration of 1 000 mg·L -1 , the retention is from 80% to 90%, and the permeate flux is from 15 L·m -2 ·h -1 to 40 L·m -2 ·h -1 at pressure of 0.2 to 0.3 MPa.

TiO2-incorporated polyelectrolyte composite membrane with transformable hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity for nanofiltration separation

The wettability of the membrane surface has shown obvious influent on the separation performance of the membrane.In this work,a hydrophilic PDA-[PDDA/TiO2]+Cl-membrane was prepared by a one-step codeposition of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)(PDDA)polyelectrolyte solution containing positively charged TiO2@PDDA nanoparticles with the assistance of dopamine(DA).Such positively charged membrane can be transformed into a hydrophobic membrane PDA-[PDDA/TiO2]+PFO-via the counterion exchange between Cl-and PFO-(perfluorooctanoate).The transformation between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity is reversible.For both hydrophilic and hydrophobic membranes,the nanofiltration performances were respectively investigated by the aqueous solution and ethanol solution of dyes including methyl blue(MB),Congo red(CR)and Evans blue(EB),and as well metal salt aqueous solution.The consecutive running stability and anti-fouling performance of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic membranes were explored.The results revealed that both membranes showed high nanofiltration performances for retention of dyes in(non)aqueous solution.For the hydrophilic membrane,the rejection of salts in a sequence is MgSO4>Na2SO4>MgCl2>NaCl.Moreover,both of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic membranes showed high stability and antifouling property.

Solvent Recovery from Soybean Oil/Hexane Miscella by PDMS Composite Membrane

Traditional solvent recovery in the extraction step of edible oil processing is distillation,which consumes large amounts of energy.If the distillation is replaced by membrane process,the energy consumption can be reduced greatly.In this work,two kinds of membrane,PDMS(polydimethylsiloxane) composite membrane and Zeolite filled PDMS membrane were prepared,in which asymmetric microporous PVDF(polyvinylidenefluoride) membrane prepared with phase inversion method was functioned as the microporous supporting layer in the flat-plate composite membrane.The different function compositions of the PDMS/PVDF composite membranes were characterized by reflection Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy.The surface and section of PDMS/PVDF composite membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM).The PDMS NF(nanofiltration) membranes were then applied in the recovery of hexane from soybean oil/hexane miscellas(1:3,mass ratio).The effects of pressure(0.5-1.5 MPa),cross-linking temperature and PDMS layer thickness on membrane performances were investigated.The results indicated that both two kinds of NF membranes were promising for solvent recovery,and zeolite filled in PDMS NF membrane could enhance the separation performance.

Fabrication and Characterization of Pulp/Chitosan Composite Membranes Crosslinked with 3-Methylglutaric Anhydride for Pervaporation of Ethanol/Water Mixture

Chitosan/Cellulose (CTS/CL) composite membranes were prepared by cross-linking reaction with 3-methy- lglutaric anhydride (3MGA). The cross-linked membranes with CTS/CL were obtained at different CTS con- tents in variations from 50 to 100 wt%, and these membranes were applied in the dehydration of ethanol/wa- ter mixtures. Especially, it was observed that in the case of a composite membrane containing chitosan 80% (CTS/CL-80/20) showed a performance with a separation factor of α = 17.1 and a total permeation flux of J = 326 g/(m2h). It was observed that the total permeation flux decreased when the cross-linking increased and the increase in the ethanol content in the feed solution showed an increase in the separation factor. The CTS/ CL-80/20 showed excellent performance with good mechanical strength and dehydration performance in the ethanol/water mixture separation.

Preparation of Composite Charge-mosaic Hollow Fiber Membrane by Interfacial Polymerization

The preparation of composite charge-mosaic membrane included spinning of hollow fiber as the supporting membrane, preparing a selective layer on the inside surface of the fiber by interfacial polymerization. The charge-mosaic membranes show a high salt permeability while retaining sucrose. The charge-mosaic membrane can be effectively used to separate multivalent salts with organic matter of molecular weight great than 300 g/mol in industry.

Hydrophilic Composite Polybutylene Terephthalate/Polyvinyl Alcohol Membranes Prepared by Electrospinning

A hydrophilic composite polybutylene terephthalate(PBT)/polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)membrane with great potential applications in biological filtration has been investigated in this research.The composite membranes were fabricated by electrospinning with PBT meltblown nonwovens as the receiving substrate.These membranes have higher strength than the conventional single layer electrospinning membrane,smaller pore diameter than the common meltblown PBT nonwovens,good hydrophilicity,and high water flux.The flux of the composite membrane was 5.97×10^(3) L/(m^(2)·h)for 5%(mass fraction)glucose solution,which was higher than that of the commercial blood filtration membranes.The optimal process for preparing PBT/PVA composite membranes was obtained by orthogonal experiments.In general,the preparation process is simple and easy to control.

Ceramic Supported PDMS and PEGDA Composite Membranes for CO2 Separation

合成的膜为 CO2 分离由于他们的潜在的应用吸引了增加的注意。在这个工作，陶器的支持的 polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS ) 并且 poly (乙烯乙二醇) diacrylate (PEGDA ) 合成的膜被准备。微观结构和 compositemembranes 的物理化学的性质被描绘。准备条件系统地被优化。同样准备的膜的煤气的分离性能被纯气体和 CO2， N2 和 H2 的二进制煤气的浸透测量学习。实验证明作为硅酮橡胶， PDMS 展出了更大的渗入和更低的分离因素。相反地， PEGDA 合成的膜介绍了更小的煤气的渗入但是为 CO2/N2 的更高理想的选择。用聚合支持或独立的膜比作那些膜的表演，二种有点合成的膜展出了更高煤气的渗入和可接受的选择。因此，陶器的支持的合成的膜能从轻气体作为 CO2 分离的一个候选人被期望。

Fabrication of high-performance PVA/PAN composite pervaporation membranes crosslinked by PMDA for wastewater desalination

The pyromellitic dianhydride(PMDA) crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) was coated on top of the PAN ultrafiltration membrane to form a PVA/PAN composite PV membranes for wastewater desalination. The composite membranes have high application value in industrial wastewater treatment. By varying the membrane fabrication parameters including the weight percent(wt%) of the PMDA, the crosslink temperature and duration, membrane with the best desalination performance was obtained. The composite membrane with a 2-lm-thick PVA selective layer containing 20 wt% of PMDA and being crosslinked at 100 °C for 2 h showed the highest Na Cl rejection of 99.98% with a water flux of 32.26 L/(m^2 h)at 70 °C using the 35,000 ppm Na Cl aqueous solution as feed. FTIR spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscope have been used to characterize the structures and properties of both the crosslinked PVA dense films and PVA/PAN composite membranes. The effects of the concentrations of PMDA,the crosslinking time and temperature to the membrane water contact angle, swelling degree, salt rejection and water flux were systematically studied.