As an extremely hydrophilic, inorganic molecular sieving nanomaterial, zeolite nanoparticles have great potential to improve water flux and fouling performance of membranes. In this study, we prepared a novel type of forward osmosis membrane by layer-by-layer assembly of zeolite nanoparticles and polyelectrolytes via electrostatic interactions.  The zeolite nanoparticles were sandwiched between two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes to form a trilayer membrane, while a bilayer membrane with only oppositely charged polyelectrolytes were used as a control.   Multiple trilayers or bilayers were formed on both sides of a porous poly(acrylonitrile) support.  We studied water and solute flux of the trilayer and bilayer membrane in a forward osmosis and pressure retarded osmosis membrane system.  Water permeability of the trilayer membrane was found to be almost three times higher than that of a bilayer membrane, while solute flux of both trilayer and bilayer membranes remain comparable.  It is believed that the hydrophilic, porous zeolite nanoparticles created higher permeability in the polyelectrolyte layers without sacrificing membrane selectivity. Overall, the facile and scalable method of layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes and zeolite nanoparticles may pave the way to the development of a next-generation of high-performance and fouling-resistant membranes for various applications.

Novel forward osmosis membrane prepared by layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes and zeolite nanoparticles

248th National Meeting (2014)

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