Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 8

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/311863288

Nanocomposite Membranes via the Co-deposition of Polydopamine/


Polyethyleneimine with Silica Nanoparticles for Enhanced Mechanical
Strength and High Water Permeability

Article  in  ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · December 2016


DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761

CITATIONS READS

32 214

4 authors:

Yan Lv Yong Du
Zhejiang University Zhejiang University
19 PUBLICATIONS   725 CITATIONS    21 PUBLICATIONS   535 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Wenze Qiu Zhi-Kang Xu


Zhejiang University Zhejiang University
18 PUBLICATIONS   370 CITATIONS    390 PUBLICATIONS   13,434 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Porous films View project

co2 reduction View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Yan Lv on 23 October 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


Research Article

www.acsami.org

Nanocomposite Membranes via the Codeposition of Polydopamine/


Polyethylenimine with Silica Nanoparticles for Enhanced Mechanical
Strength and High Water Permeability
Yan Lv,†,‡ Yong Du,†,‡ Wen-Ze Qiu,†,‡ and Zhi-Kang Xu*,†,‡

MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering,
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Key Laboratory of Adsorption and Separation Materials & Technologies of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310027, China
*
S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: A defect-free and stable selective layer is of critical significance


for thin film composite membrane with excellent separation performance and
service durability. We report a facial strategy for fabricating thin film
nanocomposite (TFN) nanofltration membranes (NFMs) based on the
codeposition of polydopamine, polyetheylenimine, and silica nanoparticles.
Tripled water flux can be obtained from the TFN NFMs as compared with
those NFMs without silica nanoparticles. This is ascribed to the improved
wettability of the membrane surfaces and the enlarged pore sizes of the
selective layer. The interfacial compatibility of the inorganic fillers and the
polymer matrices can be enhanced by the electrostatic interactions of silica
nanoparticles with polyethylenimine and the adhesive characteristics of polydopamine, resulting in a defect-free selective layer
and then good rejection for both bivalent cations and neutral solutes. The rigid silica nanoparticles also improve the surface
mechanical strength of the TFN NFMs effectively and lead to structural stability and compaction resistance during the long-term
filtration process.
KEYWORDS: nanofiltration membrane, nanocomposite, silica nanoparticles, polydopamine, mussel-inspired chemistry

1. INTRODUCTION used to enhance water permeation flux, thermal stability, and


It is well accepted that the water crisis caused by population service durability;11−14 TiO2 NPs or nanotubes were found to
growth and industry is threatening the survival and develop- promote water permeation flux and antifouling property;15,16
ment of human society all over the world.1,2 How to get clean silver NPs could enhance antibacteria performance;17 and
water with high quality has become a world matter of concern. carbon-based nanomaterials were applied to raise mechanical
Various membrane technologies have been developed to strength and ion selectivity of TFN NFMs.18,19 In these cases,
produce clean water since the 1960s. Among them, nano- the interfacial compatibility must be improved between the
filtration is drawing much attention in the fields of drinkable polyamide matrices and the inorganic fillers to achieve ideal
water production, seawater desalination and wastewater structures and high performance for these TFN NFMs.20
treatment due to its superiorities of high water permeability, Plenty of efforts have been devoted to this problem by
suitable retention to multivalent ions or organic molecules modifying the inorganic fillers, developing organic nano-
(200−1000 Da), and low operation pressure.3−5 In general, particles and synthesizing molecule of frameworks containing
most nanofiltration membranes (NFMs) have been prepared organic ligands, which can be used to avoid defective voids and
from polymer.6,7 They have a thin film composite substructure, structural instability to some extent.21−24 However, there still
typically consisting of, for example, a polysulfone sublayer on a remains a major challenge to develop facile and environmental
nonwoven support, and a selective layer that is made of friendly methods to enhance the interfacial stability and
polyamide.8 In recent years, nanocomposite membranes have consequently achieve TFN NFMs with high performances.
become a focused research area,9−19 which consist of a Dopamine, known as a mussel-inspired “bio-glue”, has been
polymeric bulk matrix with various inorganic fillers and then widely evaluated for the surface modification of various
provide a promising access to combine the merits of inorganic materials because it can be oxidized and self-polymerizes
fillers with polymers and to take in the synergistic effect under alkaline condition to form polydopamine (PDA)
between the two materials. Thin film nanocomposite (TFN) coatings with great adhesive strength.25−27 Most recently,
membranes have been prepared by mixing inorganic nanoma-
terials into the selective layer to improve water permeation flux, Received: October 27, 2016
solute rejection, and mechanical durability as well as antifouling Accepted: December 21, 2016
property.10 For examples, silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) were Published: December 21, 2016

© 2016 American Chemical Society 2966 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761


ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the preparation process and the suggested structures of TFN NFMs.

PDA-based coatings have been suggested as the selective or mixture was dialyzed for 3 days to remove residual lysine and the
intermediate layer for thin film composite NFMs.28−32 It has obtained silica nanoparticle solution is colorless and transparent.
been demonstrated in our previous work that incorporating Preparation of the TFN NFMs. A typical process is schematically
low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI) in the dopamine presented in Figure 1 for the preparation of TFN NFMs. First, PAN
ultrafiltration membranes were hydrolyzed in NaOH solution (1.5
solution can promote the homogeneous polymerization of
mol/L) for 1 h at 50 °C, and immersed into HCl solution (1 mol/L)
dopamine and the uniform codeposition of PDA−PEI to result for protonization overnight at 25 °C. Then, they were washed by
in smooth and electropositive coatings.33 Dopamine can also ultrapure water for several times and stored in ultrapure water.
help to improve the dispersion of inorganic fillers in aqueous Dopamine hydrochloride (2 mg/mL) was dissolved in Tris−HCl
solution and enhance the surface interactions in an interfacial buffer solution (pH = 8.5, 50 mmol/L) with a certain content of SiO2
polymerization process.22 Therefore, the codeposition of PDA NPs for 15 min followed by the addition of PEI (1 mg/mL). PAN
with PEI and nanomaterials provides a promising solution to membranes were prewetted by ethanol and then immersed into the
construct defect-free and stable selective layer for TFN NFMs. freshly prepared deposition solution to deposit for certain time at 25
In this work, novel TFN NFMs have been fabricated via the °C. The as-prepared membranes (PDA/PEI/SiO2-modified mem-
codeposition of PDA/PEI/SiO2 NPs followed by cross-linking branes) were washed by ultrapure water overnight and cross-linked
and PEI grafting. SiO2 NPs are introduced into the selective with a GA solution as described in our previous work.30 Additionally,
surface grafting by PEI solution (2 mg/mL) was adopted in order to
layer of TFN NFMs to improve the nanofiltration performance,
maintain the electro-positive characteristic of the membrane surfaces
mechanical strength and structural stability due to their with different contents of SiO2 NPs. Finally, these TFN NFMs were
inherent hydrophilicity, rigidity and electronegativity. The rinsed several times and stored in ultrapure water for further
interfacial compatibility can be facilitated between the positively characterization and evaluation.
charged PDA/PEI matrices and the negative charged SiO2 Membrane Characterization. Chemical structures of the
NPs.13,22 The embedded SiO2 NPs endows these TFN NFMs membrane surfaces were characterized by attenuated total reflectance
with high water permeation flux while maintaining high Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR/ATR, Nicolet 6700,
rejection performance for multivalent cations. Furthermore, USA) with spectra collected from 400 to 4000 cm−1 by cumulating 32
the as-prepared TFN NFMs exhibit relatively high surface scans at a resolution of 4 cm−1. Element components were further
strength and excellent structural stability during a long-term analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS, ThermoScien-
separation process. tific, USA) using Al Kα excitation radiation (1486.6 eV) with a survey
depth of 5−10 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM, Hitachi, S4800, Japan) and transmission electron micros-
2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION copy (TEM, Hitachi 7700, Japan) were used to characterize the
Materials. Polyacrylonitrile ultrafiltration membranes (PAN, morphologies of the membrane and the distribution of SiO2 NPs in
MWCO ranging from 10 to 30 kDa) were purchased from Shanghai the selective layer, respectively. The membranes were dehydrated
MegaVision Membrane Engineering & Technology Co. Ltd. (China). using graded ethanol solutions and fractured in liquid nitrogen to
Dopamine hydrochloride and PEI (Mw = 600 Da) were procured prepare sectional samples for FESEM detection. For TEM, the dried
from Sigma-Aldrich (USA) and Aladdin (China), respectively. L- membranes were frozen and cut by cryoultramicrotome (Leica UC7/
Lysine, tetraethyl orthosilicate, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane, FC7, Germany) to obtain the cross-sectional samples. The dynamic
ethanol, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution water contact angles (WCAs) were measured by a DropMeter A-200
(12 mol/L), glutaraldehyde (GA) solution (50 wt %), and inorganic contact angle system (MAIST VisionInspection & Measurement Co.
salts were all obtained from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd. Ltd., China) in ambient environment to evaluate the wettability of the
and used without further treatment. Ultrapure water (18.2 MΩ) was membrane surfaces. The membrane surface potentials were detected
produced from an ELGA Lab Water system (France). using a streaming potential method by an electrokinetic analyzer
Synthesis of SiO2 NPs. SiO2 NPs with the diameter of about 10 (SurPASS Anton Paar, GmbH, Austria) with KCl (1 mmol/L)
nm were prepared according to an amino-acid-catalyzed method solution as electrolyte solution. pH values were adjusted by NaOH
reported by Yokoi et al. (Figure S1 in Supporting Information, SI).34,35 (0.1 mol/L) and HCl (0.1 mol/L) solutions during the measurement.
Briefly, 0.2 g L-lysine was dissolved in 50 mL of ultrapure water first, Surface strength of the membranes was expressed by Young’s
and then 3.815 mL of tetraethyl orthosilicate was added to the solution modulus measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM, MultiMode 8,
and the mixture was vigorously stirred at 60 °C for 24 h. Finally, the USA). Deflection-displacement loading curves of different membranes

2967 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761


ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

were obtained, and the Young’s modulus of the membrane surface was
calculated by the following eq 1:36,37

k
z=d+ d
(π /2)[E /(1 − v 2)]tan α (1)
where E is the Young’s modulus, d and z are the cantilever deflection
and piezo displacement, respectively. k is the spring constant of the
cantilever (k = 39 N/m, provided by the supplier, Nanosensors,
Switzerland), ν is Poisson’s ratio (ν = 0.5), and α is the opening angle
of the cone (α = 35°).
Membrane Performance Evaluation. The filtration performance
of the as-prepared TFC NFMs was tested using a laboratory scale
cross-flow flat membrane module with an effective membrane area of
7.07 cm2. A series of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with different
molecular weights (200, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000 Da) were
used as electroneutral solutes to detect the molecular weight cutoff
(MWCO) of the membranes.31 Various salts, including MgCl2, CaCl2,
MgSO4, Na2SO4, and NaCl were used as solutes in feed solutions at a
concentration of 1000 mg/L to test the separation performance of the
TFN NFMs. All of the filtration experiments were operated under 0.6
MPa at 30 °C with a fixed cross-flow rate of 30 L/h. The water flux
(Fw, L/m2 h) was calculated by the following eq 2:
Q
Fw =
A·t (2)
2
where Q (L), A (m ), and t (h) represent the volume of permeated
water, the effective membrane area, and the permeation time,
respectively.
And the rejection (R, %) was calculated by the following eq 3:
⎛ Cp ⎞
R = ⎜1 − ⎟ × 100%
⎝ Cf ⎠ (3)
where Cp (mg/L) and Cf (mg/L) are the solute concentrations in
permeate and feed, respectively. The concentration of salt solution was
detected by an electrical conductivity meter (Mettler Toledo, FE30,
China). Moreover, the structural stability was evaluated according to
the variation of the nanofiltration performance during a long-term
operation process. In detail, the NFMs were continuously tested on
the apparatus for 120 h with the water flux and salt rejection measured
every 6 h. All of the experimental results presented were repeated at
least three times.
Figure 2. (A) XPS spectra of the composite NFMs with (a) and
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION without (b) SiO2 NPs, and (B) FT-IR/ATR spectra of the prepared
membranes containing SiO2 NPs at different fabrication steps. (C)
Surface Structures of the Prepared TFN NFMs. Typical TEM image from the cross section of the TFN NFMs with
Chemical structures of the membrane surfaces were charac- SiO2 NPs in the selective layer.
terized by XPS and FT-IR/ATR. Our previous work indicates
that composite NFMs can be facilely fabricated by the NPs. After cross-linking with GA, the peak of CN enhances
codeposition of PDA/PEI followed by cross-linking with slightly ascribed to the reaction between aldehyde groups and
GA.30 XPS spectra (Figure 2A) show that, compared with amine groups whereas other peaks change little. The peaks of
composite NFMs without SiO2 NPs, new peaks of Si 2s and Si CN, NH, and CN increase obviously due to the PEI
2p arise in the spectrum of TFN NFMs. The deconvoluted grafting on to the membrane surface through Michel addition
spectra of C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s further exhibit the binding between PEI and PDA and Shiff base reaction between PEI and
energy of CC (CC), CN (CO), CN, CO, and GA. Besides, the intensity of SiO peak decreases because of
SiO in detail (Figure S2 in SI). The atomic percentage is the coverage by PEI chains. Chemical composition on the
calculated as 2.92% for Si element in the membrane surface, membrane surfaces varies consistently with above results at
indicating SiO2 NPs are successfully embedded into the different fabrication steps (Table S1 in SI).
selective layer (Table S1 in SI). Additionally, TEM was used to observe the distribution of
In accordance with these results, FT-IR/ATR spectra of the SiO2 NPs in the selective layer of TFN NFMs. It depicts that
TFN NFMs with SiO2 NPs shows a new peak at 1107 cm−1 the SiO2 NPs are embedded in the selective layer with slight
ascribed to SiOSi stretching vibration, and the intensity of aggregation, which can act as rigid cross-linking sites to improve
OH vibration peak at 3400 cm−1 is enhanced due to the the mechanical strength of the membrane surface and the
abundant hydroxyl groups on the surfaces of SiO2 NPs (Figure stability of the selective layer (Figure 2B, Figure S4a in SI).
S3 in SI). In detail, it can be seen that peaks arise at 1107, 1398, Surface Morphology and Property of the TFN NFMs.
1566, and 1663 cm−1 due to the SiO, CN, NH, and Figure 3 shows the surface morphology of the composite
CN vibrations after the codeposition of PDA−PEI/SiO2 NFMs with and without SiO2 NPs embedded, which are of
2968 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

Figure 3. Surface morphologies of the composite NFMs without (a) and with (b) SiO2 NPs. (c) Dynamic water contact angles and (d) surface ζ-
potentials at various pH values of the composite NFMs with (tilted ◪) and without (◑) SiO2 NPs. (The deposition time is 4 h, and the
concentration of SiO2 NPs is 0.5 mg/mL.)

Figure 4. (a) Deflection−displacement loading curves of composite NFMs with and without SiO2 NPs (the deposition time is 4 h, the concentration
of SiO2 NPs is 0.5 mg/mL), and (b) effect of the concentration of SiO2 NPs on the Young’s modulus of the membrane surfaces of the TFN NFMs.

great importance for rejection and permeation performance. increases slightly with the prolonged deposition time (Figure
The membrane surfaces are defect-free without visible pores. It S5 in SI). These results should be ascribed to the inherent
can be seen that the TFN NFMs exhibit a lot of nodules on the hydrophilicity of the embedded SiO2 NPs and the resulted
membrane surfaces, while the composite NFMs without SiO2 rough surface morphology (Figure S6 in SI). The TFN NFMs
NPs are relatively smooth. These nodules should be attributed show good surface wettability and can be quickly infiltrated by
to the aggregation of SiO2 NPs. Moreover, the selective layer water, which is beneficial for the permeation performance.
increases from 55 to about 500 nm (Table S2 in SI) with On the other hand, the surface potential plays a very crucial
deposition time, which is much thicker than that of the role for NFMs in the retention of charged solutes during the
composite NFMs without SiO2 NPs.30 nanofiltration process because of the Donnan exclusion effects
The surface wettability of the TFN NFMs is essential for to co-ion at the interphase of the membrane and the solution.
water permeation performance, which was evaluated by time- Figure 3d reveals that the membrane surfaces are positively
dependent and static water contact angle (WCA) measure- charged with pH value ranging from 4 to 8 for those composite
ments (Figure 3c, Figure S5 in SI). WCA is lower on the TFN NFMs without SiO2 NPs, which is due to the abundant amino
NFMs surfaces than those of the composite NFMs without groups of the codeposited and the grafted PEI chains. It is
SiO2 NPs. It decreases further with increased SiO2 NPs and interesting that the membrane surfaces show a lower ζ-
2969 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

Figure 5. (a) MWCOs and (b) separation performances for different salts of the TFN NFMs. Compaction resistance of the composite NFMs (c)
with and (d) without SiO2 NPs with operation time (MgCl2 as solute). Test conditions: all inorganic salt concentration is 1000 mg/L, 30 °C, pH =
6, 0.6 MPa, cross-flow rate = 30 L/h.

potential for the prepared TFN NFMs than those composite effects of the deposition time and the concentration of SiO2
NFMs without SiO2 NPs. And the ζ-potential changes with the NPs on the nanofiltration performance in detail as they could
SiO2 NPs and the deposition time (Figure S7 in SI). This is influence the surface topology and the thickness of the selective
because the synthesized SiO2 NPs are negatively charged (with layer (Figure S8 in SI). 4 h is adopted as an optimized
ζ-potential of −30.4 mV) whereas the PEI chains are positively deposition time after considering both the permeation flux of
charged when the pH value is lower than 10.5 (isoelectric water and the rejection of MgCl2. The rejection increases
point). Therefore, our TFN NFMs are still positively charged slightly with the deposition time because the compactness and
when the nanofiltration process is typically conducted at pH the surface potential of the selective layer reaches a steady state
6.0. when the deposition is longer than 4 h (Figure S7b, Figure S8a,
Mechanical Strength of the Membrane Surfaces. SiO2 and Figure S9 in SI). On the other hand, the water flux declines
NPs are expected to act as cross-linking sites for enhancing the due to the increased thickness of the selective layer whereas the
mechanical strength of the membrane surface and thus surface morphology and the wettability remain changeless in
increasing the compaction resistance of the selective layer as these cases (Table S2, Figure S5b, Figure S8b, Figure S9, and
mentioned above. Young’s modulus (E) of the selective layer
Figure S10 in SI). We also determined MWCOs of the TFN
was calculated from the indentation curves detected by AFM
NFMs with different concentrations of SiO2 NPs by neutral
(Figure 4a). E of the membrane surface is improved to 43.97
solute filtration using PEGs. It can be seen that the MWCO
GPa for the TFN NFMs as compared with 14.29 GPa for the
composite NFM without SiO2 NPs. This value gradually increases from 200 Da to over 2000 Da with the concentration
increases to 75 GPa with the concentration increases of SiO2 of SiO2 NPs from 0 to 2.0 mg/mL (Figure 5a). It means the
NPs from 0 to 2.0 mg/mL (Figure 4b). It can be attributed to selective layer becomes loose when the SiO2 NPs are
the increased amount of rigid inorganic nanoparticles in the incorporated into the membrane surface. This is reasonable
selective layer. It should be noticed that the error bars become because the SiO2 NPs are more rigid than the deposited PDA/
bigger as the SiO2 NPs concentration increases, indicating an PEI matrix and they will aggregate at high concentration
enlarged data dispersivity of Young’s modulus. This should be (Figure S6 in SI).6,7 Therefore, the rejection to MgCl2
ascribed to the increased nanoparticle agglomeration, which is decreases dramatically with the concentration of SiO2 NPs,
also consistent with the results shown in the TEM images which are resulted from the loose selective layer and the
(Figure S4b in SI). decreased surface potential (Figure S7a and Figure S8b in SI).
Nanofiltration Performance of the TFN NFMs. The However, the water flux of TFN NFMs increases to 70 L/m2 h
separation performance of the composite NMFs was evaluated due to the improved surface wettability and the loose structures
with a typical cross-flow nanofiltration process. We studied the (Figure S5a and Figure S8b in SI). Thus, 0.5 mg/mL is chosen
2970 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

as the optimized concentration of SiO2 NPs for the preparation different deposition times and concentrations of SiO2
of TFN NFMs. NPs, effects of deposition time and concentration of SiO2
Various salt solutions were then used to evaluate the NPs on the nanofiltration performances of the TFN
separation performances of the TFN NMFs prepared under the NFMs (PDF)


optimized conditions (Figure 5b). The rejection ratio reaches
as high as 90% for bivalent cations whereas it is lower than 30% AUTHOR INFORMATION
for monovalent cations. The salt rejection obeys the order of Corresponding Author
CaCl2 ≅ MgCl2 > MgSO4 > Na2SO4 > NaCl, which is *E-mail: xuzk@zju.edu.cn.
reasonable for positively charged NFMs and mainly determined
by the Donnan and dielectric effects under typical conditions. It ORCID
can be seen that the rejection for Na2SO4 is higher than that for Zhi-Kang Xu: 0000-0002-2261-7162
NaCl because the hydration ion radius of SO42− is larger than Notes
that of Cl−. Additionally, it should be noticed that, the water The authors declare no competing financial interest.
flux of TFN NFMs reaches as high as 32 L/m2 h, which is
about triple of the composite NFM without SiO2 NPs (Figure
S8b in SI). This indicates that the incorporation of SiO2 NPs
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial support is acknowledged to the National Natural
into the selective layer improves the water permeability of the Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 21534009), the Open
composite NFMs effectively. Research Fund Program of Zhejiang Provincial Collaborative
Moreover, we evaluated the structural stability and Innovation Center Program 2011 (Grant no. 2016ZD04), and
compaction resistance of the selective layer with a long-term Zhejiang Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center Program
operation process of continuous filtration for 120 h. Both of the 2011 (Grant no. G1504126001900).
water flux and the rejection maintain stable during this process,
indicating good structural stability for the TFN NFMs (Figure
5c). However, the water flux decreases by about 30% whereas
■ REFERENCES
(1) Gin, D. L.; Noble, R. D. Designing the Next Generation of
the rejection increases from 87% to 95% for the composite Chemical Separation Membranes. Science 2011, 332, 674−676.
NFMs without SiO2 NPs (Figure 5d). It can be deduced that (2) Shannon, M. A.; Bohn, P. W.; Elimelech, M.; Georgiadis, J. G.;
the improvement of the compaction resistance is closely related Marinas, B. J.; Mayes, A. M. Science and Technology for Water
to the addition of SiO2 NPs. The enhanced structural stability is Purification in the Coming Decades. Nature 2008, 452, 301−310.
beneficial for the stable separation performance of the (3) Hilal, N.; Al-Zoubi, H.; Darwish, N. A.; Mohamma, A. W.; Arabi,
composite NFMs, which is promising for practical nano- M. A. A Comprehensive Review of Nanofiltration Membranes:
Treatment, Pretreatment, Modelling, and Atomic Force Microscopy.
filtration operation. Desalination 2004, 170, 281−308.
(4) Luo, J.; Wan, Y. Effects of pH and Salt on Nanofiltration - A
4. CONCLUSION Critical Review. J. Membr. Sci. 2013, 438, 18−28.
In summary, novel TFN NFMs are fabricated via the (5) Vander Bruggen, B.; Mänttäri, M.; Nyström, M. Drawbacks of
codeposition of PDA, PEI, and SiO2 NPs followed by GA Applying Nanofiltration and How to Avoid Them: A Review. Sep.
cross-linking and PEI grafting. The dense, hydrophilic, and Purif. Technol. 2008, 63, 251−263.
(6) Souza, V. C.; Quadri, M. G. N. Organic-Inorganic Hybrid
positively charged selective layers endow these TFN NFMs Membranes in Separation Process: A 10-Year Review. Braz. J. Chem.
with high rejection for bivalent cations and neutral molecules Eng. 2013, 30, 683−700.
accompanied by tripled water flux compared with those (7) Li, Y.; He, G.; Wang, S.; Yu, S.; Pan, F.; Wu, H.; Jiang, Z. Recent
composite NFMs without SiO2 NPs. The structural stability Advances in the Fabrication of Advanced Composite Membranes. J.
and mechanical strength of the selective layer are also enhanced Mater. Chem. A 2013, 1, 10058−10077.
due to the rigidity of SiO2 NPs and their good compatibility (8) Yin, J.; Kim, E. S.; Yang, J.; Deng, B. Fabrication of A Novel Thin-
with the PDA/PEI matrices, which is beneficial for the Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membrane Containing MCM-41 Silica
compaction resistance during long-term filtration process. In Nanoparticles (NPs) for Water Purification. J. Membr. Sci. 2012, 423−
brief, we propose here a promising strategy to construct TFN 424, 238−246.
NFMs with defect-free, stable, and compaction resistant (9) Lau, W. J.; Gray, S.; Matsuura, T.; Emadzadeh, D.; Chen, J. P.;
Ismail, A. F. A Review on Polyamide Thin Film Nanocomposite
selective layers.


(TFN) Membranes: History, Applications, Challenges and Ap-
proaches. Water Res. 2015, 80, 306−324.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT (10) Yin, J.; Deng, B. Polymer-Matrix Nanocomposite Membranes
*
S Supporting Information for Water Treatment. J. Membr. Sci. 2015, 479, 256−275.
The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the (11) Jadav, G. L.; Singh, P. S. Synthesis of Novel Silica-Polyamide
Nanocomposite Membrane with Enhanced Properties. J. Membr. Sci.
ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761. 2009, 328, 257−267.
TEM image and size distribution of the synthesized SiO2 (12) Hu, D.; Xu, Z. L.; Chen, C. Polypiperazine-Amide Nano-
NPs, high-resolution XPS spectra of the TFN NFM, FT- filtration Membrane Containing Silica Nanoparticles Prepared by
IR/ATR spectra of the composite NFMs, TEM images of Interfacial Polymerization. Desalination 2012, 301, 75−81.
the selective layer from the cross-section of the TFN (13) Niksefat, N.; Jahanshahi, M.; Rahimpour, A. The Effect of SiO2
NFMs, SEM images from the membrane surfaces of the Nanoparticles on Morphology and Performance of Thin Film
Composite Membranes for Forward Osmosis Application. Desalination
TFN NFMs with different deposition times and 2014, 343, 140−146.
concentrations of SiO2 NPs, SEM images the membrane (14) Li, Q.; Wang, Y.; Song, J.; Guan, Y.; Yu, H.; Pan, X.; Wu, F.;
cross sections of the TFN NFMs and thickness of the Zhang, M. Influence of Silica Nanospheres on the Separation
selective layer with different codeposition times, water Performance of Thin Film Composite Poly(piperazine-amide) Nano-
contact angles and ζ-potentials of the TFN NFMs with filtration Membranes. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2015, 324, 757−764.

2971 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761


ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Research Article

(15) Lai, G. S.; Lau, W. J.; Gray, S. R.; Matsuura, T.; Gohari, R. J.; (32) Zhang, R.; Su, Y.; Zhao, X.; Li, Y.; Zhao, J.; Jiang, Z. A Novel
Subramanian, M. N.; Lai, S. O.; Ong, C. S.; Ismail, A. F.; Emazadah, Positively Charged Composite Nanofiltration Membrane Prepared by
D.; Ghanbari, M. A Practical Approach to Synthesize Polyamide Thin Bio-Inspired Adhesion of Polydopamine and Surface Grafting of
Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membranes with Improved Separation Poly(ethylene imine). J. Membr. Sci. 2014, 470, 9−17.
Properties for Water/Wastewater Treatment. J. Mater. Chem. A 2016, (33) Yang, H. C.; Liao, K. J.; Huang, H.; Wu, Q. Y.; Wan, L. S.; Xu,
4, 4134−4144. Z. K. Mussel-Inspired Modification of A Polymer Membrane for Ultra-
(16) Rajaeian, B.; Heitz, A.; Tade, M. O.; Liu, S. Improved Separation High Water Permeability and Oil-in-Water Emulsion Separation. J.
and Antifouling Performance of PVA Thin Film Nanocomposite Mater. Chem. A 2014, 2, 10225−10230.
Membranes Incorporated with Carboxylated TiO2 Nanoparticles. J. (34) Yokoi, T.; Sakamoto, Y.; Terasaki, O.; Kubota, Y.; Okubo, T.;
Membr. Sci. 2015, 485, 48−59. Tatsumi, T. I. Periodic Arrangement of Silica Nanospheres Assisted by
(17) Kim, E. S.; Hwang, G.; Gamal El-Din, M.; Liu, Y. Development Amino Acids. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 13664−13665.
of Nanosilver and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Thin-Film (35) Yokoi, T.; Wakabayashi, J.; Otsuka, Y.; Fan, W.; Iwama, M.;
Nanocomposite Membrane for Enhanced Water Treatment. J. Watanabe, R.; Aramaki, K.; Shimojima, A.; Tatsumi, T.; Okubo, T.
Membr. Sci. 2012, 394−395, 37−48. Mechanism of Formation of Uniform-Sized Silica Nanospheres
(18) Wang, N.; Ji, S.; Zhang, G.; Li, J.; Wang, L. Self-Assembly of Catalyzed by Basic Amino Acids. Chem. Mater. 2009, 21, 3719−3729.
Graphene Oxide and Polyelectrolyte Complex Nanohybrid Mem- (36) Wang, X.; Liu, F.; Zheng, X.; Sun, J. Water-Enabled Self-Healing
branes for Nanofiltration and Pervaporation. Chem. Eng. J. 2012, 213, of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Coatings. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2011, 50,
318−329. 11378−11381.
(19) Liu, T. Y.; Yuan, H. G.; Li, Q.; Tang, Y. H.; Zhang, Q.; Qian, W. (37) Radmacher, M.; Fritz, M.; Kacher, C. M.; Cleveland, J. P.;
Z.; Van der Bruggen, B.; Wang, X. L. Ion-Responsive Channels of Hansma, P. K. Measuring the Viscoelastic Properties of Human
Zwitterion Carbon Nanotube Membrane for Rapid Water Permeation Platelets with the Atomic Force Microscope. Biophys. J. 1996, 70,
and Ultrahigh Mono-/Multivalent Ion Selectivity. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 556−567.
7488−7496.
(20) Zhang, R.; Ji, S.; Wang, N.; Wang, L.; Zhang, G.; Li, J. R.
Coordination-Driven in Situ Self-Assembly Strategy for the Prepara-
tion of Metal−Organic Framework Hybrid Membranes. Angew. Chem.,
Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 9775−9779.
(21) Shen, J. N.; Yu, C. C.; Ruan, H. M.; Gao, C. J.; Van der Bruggen,
B. Preparation and Characterization of Thin-Film Nanocomposite
Membranes Embedded with Poly(methyl methacrylate) Hydrophobic
Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by Interfacial Polymer-
ization. J. Membr. Sci. 2013, 442, 18−26.
(22) Zhao, F. Y.; Ji, Y. L.; Weng, X. D.; Mi, Y. F.; Ye, C. C.; An, Q. F.;
Gao, C. J. High-Flux Positively Charged Nanocomposite Nano-
filtration Membranes Filled with Poly(dopamine) Modified Multiwall
Carbon Nanotubes. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2016, 8, 6693−6700.
(23) Ji, Y. L.; Zhao, Q.; An, Q. F.; Shao, L. L.; Lee, K. R.; Xu, Z. K.;
Gao, C. J. Novel Separation Membranes Based on Zwitterionic Colloid
Particles: Tunable Selectivity and Enhanced Antifouling Property. J.
Mater. Chem. A 2013, 1, 12213−12220.
(24) Sorribas, S.; Gorgojo, P.; Tellez, C.; Coronas, J.; Livingston, A.
G. High Flux Thin Film Nanocomposite Membranes Based on Metal-
Organic Frameworks for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2013, 135, 15201−15208.
(25) Lee, H.; Dellatore, S. M.; Miller, W. M.; Messersmith, P. B.
Mussel-Inspired Surface Chemistry for Multifunctional Coatings.
Science 2007, 318, 426−430.
(26) Zhang, C.; Ou, Y.; Lei, W. X.; Wan, L. S.; Ji, J.; Xu, Z. K.
CuSO4/H2O2-Induced Rapid Deposition of Polydopamine Coatings
with High Uniformity and Enhanced Stability. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.
2016, 55, 3054−3057.
(27) Yang, H. C.; Luo, J.; Lv, Y.; Shen, P.; Xu, Z. K. Surface
Engineering of Polymer Membranes via Mussel-Inspired Chemistry. J.
Membr. Sci. 2015, 483, 42−59.
(28) Li, X. L.; Zhu, L. P.; Jiang, J. H.; Yi, Z.; Zhu, B. K.; Xu, Y. Y.
Hydrophilic Nanofiltration Membranes with Self-Polymerized and
Strongly-Adhered Polydopamine as Separating Layer. Chin. J. Polym.
Sci. 2012, 30, 152−163.
(29) Li, M.; Xu, J.; Chang, C. Y.; Feng, C.; Zhang, L.; Tang, Y.; Gao,
C. Bioinspired Fabrication of Composite Nanofiltration Membrane
Based on the Formation of DA/PEI Layer Followed by Cross-linking.
J. Membr. Sci. 2014, 459, 62−71.
(30) Lv, Y.; Yang, H. C.; Liang, H. Q.; Wan, L. S.; Xu, Z. K.
Nanofiltration Membranes via Co-deposition of Polydopamine/
Polyethylenimine Followed by Cross-linking. J. Membr. Sci. 2015,
476, 50−58.
(31) Lv, Y.; Yang, H. C.; Liang, H. Q.; Wan, L. S.; Xu, Z. K. Novel
Nanofiltration Membrane with Ultrathin Zirconia Film as Selective
Layer. J. Membr. Sci. 2016, 500, 265−271.

2972 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b13761


ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 2966−2972

View publication stats

You might also like