Developing novel CTA/CA-based forward osmosis membrane containing hydrophilic nanoparticles

Forward osmosis (FO) has developed as a new process with many potential applications in water production. The lack of an adequately designed membrane is the major challenge which hinders FO development. In this study, nanotechnology has been integrated with membrane science to build a high performance FO membrane. Boehmite nanoparticles, a hydrophilic additive containing extra hydroxyl groups on its surface, promoted cellulose acetate/cellulose triacetate (CA/CTA)-based membrane performance for FO applications. The characterization of the resultant nanocomposite membranes exhibited improved physiochemical properties, structural parameter and performance. Loading 0.5 wt. % of the nanoparticles enhanced the water permeability about three times without a considerable increase in salt permeability and produced an excellent permselectivity compared to the neat membrane. Moreover, the nanoparticles loading improved porosity of the nanocomposite membrane and reduced its structural parameter (S) to 0.53 mm. Higher porosity and desirable hydrophilicity of the modified membrane exhibited a reduced impact of internal concentration polarization (ICP), which generally influence FO processes. The performance results indicated that the modified membrane showed a superior FO performance compared to the commercially available FO membranes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Forward Osmosis ، Nanocomposite membrane ، Cellulose ester-based membrane