Photo‐induced grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) onto polyamide thin film composite membranes

Abstract

In this study, the surface grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) onto commercial polyamide thin film composite (TFC‐PA) membranes was carried out, using ultraviolet photo‐induced graft polymerization method. The attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectra verify a successful grafting of PEG onto the TFC‐PA membrane surface. The scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope analyses demonstrate the changes of the membrane surface morphology due to the formation of the PEG‐grafted layer on the top. The contact angle measurements illustrate the increased hydrophilicity of the TFC‐PA‐g‐PEG membrane surfaces, with a significantly reduced water contact angles compared to the unmodified one. Consequently, the separation performance of the PEG‐grafted membranes is highly improved, with a significant enhancement of flux at a great retention for removal of the different objects in aqueous feed solutions. In addition, the antifouling property of the modified membranes is also clearly improved, with the higher maintained flux ratios and the lower irreversible fouling factors compared to the unmodified membrane. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45454.

Application of surface‐modified functional packaging in food storage: A comprehensive review

“…Additionally, a previous study reported that the thin film composite-PA-g-polyethylene glycol (PEG) spectra, compared to the unmodified version, displayed wide bands approximately at 3400 and 2850 cm −2 , indicative of the presence of -OH groups and the -CH 2 group from the PEG-grafted layer. The results derived from FTIR analyses strongly affirm the successful grafting of PEG onto the surface of the thin film composite-g-PA material (Hong Anh Ngo et al, 2017).…”

“…Studies on the grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) onto PA membrane composites have shown, through AFM analysis, that the surface morphology of the membrane changed due to the formation of the top poly(ethylene glycol) grafting layer. The grafting yield increased with longer grafting time and/or higher poly(ethylene glycol) concentration (Hong Anh Ngo et al., 2017). However, AFM has some limitations, including its slow imaging speed, the risk of contamination of the contact mode probe, and the high operational skill requirements.…”

Polyethylene glycol-grafted graphene oxide nanosheets in tailoring the structure and reverse osmosis performance of thin film composite membrane

“…Photo-induced graft polymerization and plasma polymerization have also been used to incorporate different PEG-based moieties on the active layer of TFC membranes to develop membranes with higher fouling resistance and separation properties 15 , 16 . Nevertheless, the direct grafting of PEG-based polymers onto the membrane surface would find limited industrial applications due to the need for multi-step reactions under harsh conditions.…”

Optimization of water flux and salt rejection properties of polyamide thin film composite membranes

“…Therefore, numerous research studies have been devoted to explore the underlying correlations between the synthesis parameters for the PA and desalination properties of the final TFCs. The most important parameters include the type and concentration of monomers and additives, organic solvents, reaction time, curing time and temperature, posttreatment strategies, and fabrication method of the PA layer …”