Synthesis and characterization of novel thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes embedded with halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) for water desalination

Minimizing structural parameter of thin film composite forward osmosis membranes using polysulfone/halloysite nanotubes as membrane substrates

“…4 shows The ATR-FTIR spectra of Substrate (control), Substrate 0.5 and TFC membrane. In case of the original Substrate (control), the specific functional groups (made of PSF polymer) can be identified at the peaks by the specific wave numbers of 1150 cm − 1 (symmetric O_S_O stretching), 1300 cm − 1 (asymmetric O_S_O stretching), 1250 cm −1 (asymmetric C-O-C stretching), 1500 cm −1 (CH 3 -C-CH 3 stretching) and 1405 cm −1 (C_C aromatic ring stretching) [45,46]. By comparing the spectrum of pristine PSF with that of PSF-HNTs substrate, one can see that the latter one has two new bands.…”

Super hydrophilic TiO2/HNT nanocomposites as a new approach for fabrication of high performance thin film nanocomposite membranes for FO application

“…For instance, the application of FO process using asymmetric triacetate (CTA) membranes from Hydration Technology Inc. (HTI) has been limited due to their relatively low water permeability and salt rejection [9]. To overcome this problem, a novel type of composite membrane known as thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane can be the solution to improve not only membrane water permeability but also anti-fouling resistance [10,11]. Embedding appropriate quantity of hydrophilic nanomaterials in to PA layer is reportedly able to improve characteristics of polyamide (PA) selective layer without compromising salt separation efficiency [9].…”

Clay nanosheets as charged filler materials for high-performance and fouling-resistant thin film nanocomposite membranes

“…9. charged nanoparticles, such as zeolite [8], MCM-41 silica [23], graphene oxide [43], carbon nanotube [14], and halloysite nanotube [17], similar as MMT nanosheets employed in the present work. However, few research observed less negatively charged membrane surface for TFN membranes after embedding filler materials.…”

“…Based on the dimension of nanomaterials [9], these various inorganic nano-fillers employed in TFN membranes can be classified as zero-dimensional hydrophilic metals and metal oxides [10][11][12], one-dimensional channel-possessing nanotubes [13][14][15][16][17][18], and three-dimensional porous nanomaterials such as zeolites [19][20][21][22], ordered mesoporous silica and carbon [23,24]. In general, most of the current studies mainly focus on taking advantage of good hydrophilicity or porous structure of nanofillers to produce a more permeable RO membrane.…”