Development of high-flux reverse osmosis membranes with MIL-101(Cr)/Fe₃O₄ interlayer

Abstract

MIL-101(Cr) has a special pore cage structure that provides broad channels for the transport of water molecules in the reverse osmosis (RO) water separation and purification. Combining MIL-101(Cr) with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles forms a water transport intermediate layer between the polyamide separation membrane and the polysulfone support base under an external magnetic field. MIL-101(Cr) is stable in both water and air while resistant to high temperature. With the introduction of 0.003 wt.% MIL-101(Cr)/Fe₃O₄, the water flux increased by 93.31% to 6.65 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹ without sacrificing the NaCl rejection of 95.88%. The MIL-101(Cr)/Fe₃O₄ multilayer membrane also demonstrated certain anti-pollution properties and excellent stability in a 72-h test. Therefore, the construction of a MIL-101(Cr)/Fe₃O₄ interlayer can effectively improve the permeability of RO composite membranes.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

reverse osmosis / thin film nanocomposite / MIL-101(Cr)/Fe₃O₄ / multi-layer

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Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22308183, 21776147, 21905153, 61604086, 22378221, and 52002198), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant Nos. ZR2023QB070 and ZR2021YQ32), the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province (Grant No. tsqn201909117), the Qingdao Science and Technology Benefit the People Demonstration and Guidance Special Project (Grant No. 23-2-8-cspz-11-nsh), the Qingdao Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 23-2-1-241-zyyd-jch), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2023M731856). Prof. Lifeng Dong also thanks financial support from the Malmstrom Endowed Fund at Hamline University.

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