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A scheme to fabricate forward osmosis membranes comprising a highly porous sublayer sandwiched between two selective skin layers via phase inversion was proposed. One severe deficiency of existing composite and asymmetric membranes used in forward osmosis is the presence of unfavorable internal concentration polarization within the porous support layer that hinders both (i) separation (salt flux) and (ii) the performance (water flux). The double skin layers of the tailored membrane may mitigate the internal concentration polarization by preventing the salt and other solutes in the draw solution from penetrating into the membrane porous support. The prototype double-skinned cellulose acetate membrane displayed a water flux of 48.2 L·m−2·h−1 and lower reverse salt transport of 6.5 g·m−2·h−1 using 5.0 M MgCl2 as the draw solution in a forward osmosis process performed at 22 °C. This can be attributed to the effective salt rejection by the double skin layers and the low water transport resistance within the porous support layer. The prospects of utilizing the double-selective layer membranes may have potential application in forward osmosis for desalination. This study may help pave the way to improve the membrane design for the forward osmosis process.

Highly hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles have been molecularly designed. For the first time, the application of highly water-soluble magnetic nanoparticles as novel draw solutes in forward osmosis (FO) was systematically investigated. Magnetic nanoparticles functionalized by various groups were synthesized to explore the correlation between the surface chemistry of magnetic nanoparticles and the achieved osmolality. We verified that magnetic nanoparticles capped with polyacrylic acid can yield the highest driving force and subsequently highest water flux among others. The used magnetic nanoparticles can be captured by the magnetic field and recycled back into the stream as draw solutes in the FO process. In addition, magnetic nanoparticles of different diameters were also synthesized to study the effect of particles size on FO performance. We demonstrate that the engineering of surface hydrophilicity and magnetic nanoparticle size is crucial in the application of nanoparticles as draw solutes in FO. It is believed that magnetic nanoparticles will soon be extensively used in this area.

Kinetics as well as the evolution of the agarose gel topology is discussed, and the agarose gelation mechanism is identified. Aqueous high melting (HM) agarose solution (0.5% w/v) is used as the model system. It is found that the gelation process can be clearly divided into three stages: induction stage, gelation stage, and pseudoequilibrium stage. The induction stage of the gelation mechanism is identified using an advanced rheological expansion system (ARES, Rheometric Scientific). When a quench rate as large as 30 deg C/min is applied, gelation seems to occur through a nucleation and growth mechanism with a well-defined induction time (time required for the formation of the critical nuclei which enable further growth). The relationship between the induction time and the driving force which is determined by the final setting temperature follows the 3D nucleation model. A schematic representation of the three stages of the gelation mechanism is given based on turbidity and rheological measurements. Aggregation of agarose chains is promoted in the polymer-rich phase and this effect is evident from the increasing mass/length ratio of the fiber bundles upon gelation. Continuously increasing pore size during gelation may be attributed to the coagulation of the local polymer-rich phase in order to achieve the global minimum of the free energy of the gelling system. The gel pore size determined using turbidity measurements has been verified by electrophoretic mobility measurements.