Preparation and characterization of a composite nanofiltration membrane from cyclen and trimesoyl chloride prepared by interfacial polymerization

Abstract

ABSTRACT A novel nanofiltration (NF) membrane was prepared with cyclen and trimesoyl chloride by interfacial polymerization on a poly(ether sulfone) ultrafiltration membrane with a molecular weight cutoff of 50,000 Da. The effects of the reaction time, monomer concentration, and heat‐treatment temperature are discussed. The physicochemical properties and morphology of the prepared NF membrane were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy–attenuated total reflectance, scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive spectrometry, and atomic force microscopy. The NF performances were evaluated with solutions of Na 2 SO 4 , MgSO 4 , Mg(NO 3 ) 2 , and NaCl. The salt‐rejection order of the prepared NF membrane was as follows: Na 2 SO 4 > MgSO 4 > Mg(NO 3 ) 2 > NaCl. The resulting rejection of Na 2 SO 4 and PEG600 (polyethylene glycol with the average molecular weight of 600) were more than 90%, whereas that of NaCl was approximately 10%. After the addition of silica sol in the aqueous phase (silica sol concentration = 0.1% w/v), the salt rejection of the membrane changed slightly. However, the water flux was from 24.2 L·m −2 ·h −1 (25°C, 0.6 MPa) up to 38.9 L·m −2 ·h −1 (25°C, 0.6 MPa), and the resulting membrane exhibited excellent hydrophilicity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 42345.