The effect of chemical modification of SiO2 nanoparticles on the nanofiltration characteristics of polyamide membrane

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering 2015, 32(12), 189, pp.2524-2533
• Main Authors: Rakhshan, Nasim, Pakizeh, Majid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Industrial Chemistry; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Polymer; 화학공학
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-015-0067-1

This study presents the synthesis and characterization of oleic acid (OA)-modified silica/polyamide (PA) nanocomposite membranes. The thin film composite (TFC) polyamide was prepared with M-phenylendiamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) via interfacial polymerization over porous polysulfone. Five different thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes were fabricated by dispersing OA-modified silica nanoparticles in TMC solution. Chemical and thermal properties, surface morphology, roughness, film thickness and hydrophilicity of synthesized membranes were characterized by ATR-IR, TGA, FESEM, AFM, TEM and contact angle analysis. The results showed that incorporating OA-modified silica into thin film layer improved chemical and physical properties of nanocomposite membranes. The effects of modification of nano silica on pure water flux and MgSO 4 rejection were investigated. OAmodified silica/PA membranes showed higher pure water flux in comparison with neat polyamide TFC membrane but lower than unmodified silica/PA membrane; while significant increase in salt rejection was exhibited for OA-modified silica/PA membranes. The maximum rejection for OA-modified and unmodified nanocomposite membrane was obtained about 98.7% and 95.2%, respectively.