Preparation and properties of hollow fibre nanofiltration membrane with continuous coffee-ring structure

Abstract

Polyamide (PA) hollow fibre composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes with a coffee-ring structure and beneficial properties were prepared by adding graphene oxide (GO) into the interfacial polymerization process. The presentation of the coffee-ring structure was attributed to the heterogeneous, finely dispersed multiphase reaction system and the “coffee-stain” effect of the GO solution. When the piperazine concentration was 0.4 wt-%, the trimesoyl chloride concentration was 0.3 wt-%, and the GO concentration was 0.025 wt-%, the prepared NF membranes showed the best separation properties. The permeate flux was 76 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹, and the rejection rate for MgSO₄ was 98.6% at 0.4 MPa. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the chemical structure and morphology of the PA/GO NF membrane. The results showed that GO was successfully entrapped into the PA functional layer. Under neutral operating conditions, the PA/GO membrane showed typical negatively charged NF membrane separation characteristics, and the rejection rate decreased in the order of Na₂SO₄>MgSO₄>MgCl₂>NaCl. The PA/GO NF membrane showed better antifouling performance than the PA membrane.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

GO / PA / interfacial polymerization / hollow fibre NF membrane

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LY19E030005) and MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Zhejiang University (No. 2017MSF 05). The authors also sincerely thank the Open Foundation from the Top Key Discipline of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology (Grant No. 20150314).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-020-1943-8 and is accessible for authorized users.

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