Thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes, as state-of-the-art membranes for nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO) and forward osmosis (FO) applications, has led to widespread use in desalination applications due to their superior water permeability, high salt rejection and wide-range pH stability compared to asymmetric cellulose acetate-based membranes. However, owing to their intrinsically surface properties, TFC polyamide membranes are still highly susceptible to irreversible membrane biofouling which is caused by adsorption, deposition, and growth of microorganisms on the membrane surfaces and can greatly compromise their fluxes and separation efficiencies, thus having strong negative effects on the operational sustainability and the cost-efficiency of membrane process. Recently, we present a facile and straightforward approach to<i> in situ</i> incorporate silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) onto surface of the polyamide layer during the TFC membrane fabrication process, without an additional post-fabrication unit for TFC membranes to provide antibacterial properties. Small sized and stable Ag NPs were first synthesized using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a template under the assistance of ultrasonic, and then covalently bind to membrane surface utilizing the reaction between amine group in BSA and acyl chloride groups in TFC membrane surface after the process of interfacial polymerization (IP). The physicochemical properties, membrane permeability and rejection, and antibacterial properties of the prepared TFC membranes were investigated. Our findings showed that TFC membranes with <i>in situ</i> grafting Ag NPs exhibited excellent antibacterial properties without sacrificing membrane permeability and rejection. Given the simplicity and versatility of this approach, our research paves a new way to develop TFC membranes with sustainable biofouling-resistant performances on a large scale.

Surface engineering of thin-film composite polyamide membranes with sliver nanoparticles during their fabrication process for providing antibiofouling properties

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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