Novel Composite Nanofiltration Membrane with Solvent Resistance Using Monomers of 1,2,4,5-Benzene Tetracarbonyl Chloride and Amines

Novel composite nanofiltration membrane with solvent resistance using monomers of 1,2,4,5-benzene tetracarbonyl chloride and amines

Yuyan Hai, Jinli Zhang, Wei Li*

(Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology MOE, School of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. *liwei@tju.edu.cn)

Abstract

Nanofiltration (NF) has attracted more attention in the field of drinking water production and wastewater treatment, in particular, for removing pharmaceutical residues with low molecular weight in the range of 200-400 from organic solvents [1, 2]. However, it is still a challenge to manufacture solvent resistant NF membranes that can be substantially used to separate pharmaceutical residues from organic solvents.

1,2,4,5-benzene tetracarbonyl chloride (BTC), synthesized by pyromellitic dianhydride, is a cheap monomer to occur the interfacial polymerization with m-phenylene diamine (MPD) [3]. To prepare a NF membrane with high flux and good rejection towards small organic molecules, here we reported a method to prepare novel polyamide thin film composite NF membrane on polyetherimide supports via interfacial polymerization of BTC and a layer of amine-containing network.

Fig.1 (a) shows the separation performance of two NF membranes (M1 and M2) for the aqueous glucose solution. M1 is the NF membrane synthesized by BTC and MPD, and M2 is the novel NF membrane synthesized by BTC and a layer of amine-containing network. Both M1 and M2 have good resistance to acetone. At an operating pressure of 1.0 MPa, the M1 exhibits a glucose rejection of 90% at a flux of 25 L m^-2 h^-1, while the M2 exhibits a glucose rejection of 98% at a flux of 52 L m^-2 h^-1. Fig.1 (b) shows the rejection of M1 and M2 for the aqueous inorganic salts solution. The rejection of M2 is a little higher than that of M1, with the rejection decreasing in the order: Na₂SO₄ (86%) > MgSO₄ (82%) > MgCl₂ (80%) > NaCl (29%). The interaction mechanism between BTC and the layer of amine-containing network is studied deeply to disclose the reason that such NF membranes have good solvent resistance, in combination with the characterizations of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle, zeta potentials and solvent resistance assessment, etc.

Fig.1 (a) Flux and rejection of M1 and M2 for the aqueous glucose solution at 1.0 MPa. (b) Rejection of M1 and M2 for the aqueous inorganic salts solution at 1.0 MPa.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by National High-tech R&D Program of China (2012AA03A609).

References

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