Novel thin film composite forward osmosis membrane of enhanced water flux and anti-fouling property with N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylenediamine incorporated

In this work, novel thin film composite (TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes are developed via interfacial polymerization on the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) substrate, using an organic-inorganic hybrid compound – N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylenediamine (NPED) as the amine monomer to mix with m-phenylenediamine (MPD). The PAN substrate was modified with sodium hydroxide and optimized by varying the hydrolyzation time. With the incorporation of NPED in the selective layer, the formed TFC membrane exhibits better hydrophilicity, improved water flux and fouling resistance, and therefore superior membrane performance. By varying the NPED content in the aqueous phase, the surface properties and performance of TFC membranes are investigated with various characterizations. In addition, the anti-fouling properties of the TFC membranes with different NPED content in the aqueous monomer are also studied.