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Thin-film composite hollow fibre membrane for low pressure organic solvent nanofiltration

Thin-film composite hollow fibre membrane for low pressure organic solvent nanofiltration
Thin-film composite hollow fibre membrane for low pressure organic solvent nanofiltration

Polyamide thin film membranes have shown outstanding performance in organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). However, it is still challenging to produce polyamide hollow fibres for OSN, mainly due to limited solvent resistance of hollow fibre substrates and the difficulty to synthesize polyamide thin film on the surface of hollow fibre substrates. In this study, polyamide-based hollow fibre composite members for low pressure OSN were successfully developed. Solvent resistant polyimide hollow fibre substrates were first prepared through a non-solvent induced phase separation process, followed by chemical cross-linking with hexamethylene diamine. A polyamide thin film layer was then synthesized via interfacial polymerization, by circulating the reactant monomers including polyethyleneimine (PEI), piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) through the hollow fibre lumen. The polyamide thin film with a thickness of ~60 nm was formed on the inner surface of the hollow fibre substrates. The membranes exhibited excellent nanofiltration (NF) performance under 2 bar operating pressure. The permeability of water, acetone and isopropanol was 6.8, 11.6 and 4.5 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, respectively. The membranes also achieved 99.9% and 91.8% rejection to rose bengal (1017 Da) and acid fuchsin (585 Da), respectively, in acetone. Furthermore, a 72-h filtration test was conducted and the membrane showed steady performance throughout the testing period. This study demonstrates the possibility of fabricating polyamide hollow fibre membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration at low pressure, which is desirable for practical applications.

Cross-linked polyimide, Hollow fibres, Low operating pressure, Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN), Thin-film composite (TFC)
0376-7388
Goh, Keng Siang
7ff588cc-da5a-43c7-b588-243cb86e26a5
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Chen, Yunfeng
f4803918-25e9-4652-93a7-6f89377618ca
Fang, Wangxi
7dcc9f15-98cd-4886-a638-7dc9affa580e
Bae, Tae Hyun
9f391e22-18ac-4590-a2ea-cde61930aa57
Wang, Rong
1f58a88c-01ff-4941-857a-427ee8c8aa62
Goh, Keng Siang
7ff588cc-da5a-43c7-b588-243cb86e26a5
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Chen, Yunfeng
f4803918-25e9-4652-93a7-6f89377618ca
Fang, Wangxi
7dcc9f15-98cd-4886-a638-7dc9affa580e
Bae, Tae Hyun
9f391e22-18ac-4590-a2ea-cde61930aa57
Wang, Rong
1f58a88c-01ff-4941-857a-427ee8c8aa62

Goh, Keng Siang, Chong, Jeng Yi, Chen, Yunfeng, Fang, Wangxi, Bae, Tae Hyun and Wang, Rong (2019) Thin-film composite hollow fibre membrane for low pressure organic solvent nanofiltration. Journal of Membrane Science, 597, [117760]. (doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117760).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Polyamide thin film membranes have shown outstanding performance in organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). However, it is still challenging to produce polyamide hollow fibres for OSN, mainly due to limited solvent resistance of hollow fibre substrates and the difficulty to synthesize polyamide thin film on the surface of hollow fibre substrates. In this study, polyamide-based hollow fibre composite members for low pressure OSN were successfully developed. Solvent resistant polyimide hollow fibre substrates were first prepared through a non-solvent induced phase separation process, followed by chemical cross-linking with hexamethylene diamine. A polyamide thin film layer was then synthesized via interfacial polymerization, by circulating the reactant monomers including polyethyleneimine (PEI), piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) through the hollow fibre lumen. The polyamide thin film with a thickness of ~60 nm was formed on the inner surface of the hollow fibre substrates. The membranes exhibited excellent nanofiltration (NF) performance under 2 bar operating pressure. The permeability of water, acetone and isopropanol was 6.8, 11.6 and 4.5 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, respectively. The membranes also achieved 99.9% and 91.8% rejection to rose bengal (1017 Da) and acid fuchsin (585 Da), respectively, in acetone. Furthermore, a 72-h filtration test was conducted and the membrane showed steady performance throughout the testing period. This study demonstrates the possibility of fabricating polyamide hollow fibre membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration at low pressure, which is desirable for practical applications.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 17 December 2019
Additional Information: Funding Information: The authors acknowledge Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore for funding the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC), Nanyang Technological University. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Cross-linked polyimide, Hollow fibres, Low operating pressure, Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN), Thin-film composite (TFC)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 486382
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486382
ISSN: 0376-7388
PURE UUID: ee5ee8b5-fd23-40a6-a233-06d5d8671205
ORCID for Jeng Yi Chong: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0593-6313

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Date deposited: 18 Jan 2024 19:27
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:20

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Contributors

Author: Keng Siang Goh
Author: Jeng Yi Chong ORCID iD
Author: Yunfeng Chen
Author: Wangxi Fang
Author: Tae Hyun Bae
Author: Rong Wang

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