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.     

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

• A fine fibre (40–60 nm diameter) interlayer (~1 µm thickness) was electrospun. • Fine fibre interlayer promoted formation of defect-free dense polyamide layer. • FO membrane with dual-layer substrate had less organic fouling potential. • High reverse salt flux accelerated organic fouling on FO membrane. 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/m²/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.     

三醋酸纤维(CTA)正渗透膜活性层朝向对正渗透过程的影响

本文通过在线实时监测研究了三醋酸纤维(CTA)正渗透膜的活性层在朝向料液(AL-FS)和汲取液(AL-DS)两种模式下的正渗透水通量、反向溶质通量、特性反向溶质通量等因素及其变化规律。在实验室条件下模拟了三醋酸纤维膜(CTA)对于不同浓度苦咸水的处理,当苦咸水浓度为2000ppmNaCl、5000ppmNaCl、8000ppmNaCl时,CTA膜活性层朝向对脱盐率几乎没有影响,AL-FS模式和AL-DS模式的脱盐率分别为96.49%和96.13%、97.40%和96.38%、98.04%和96.81%。研究结果对于进一步开发CTA正渗透系统和实用化具有重要意义。