TY - JOUR
T1 - A Self-Standing, Support-Free Membrane for Forward Osmosis with No Internal Concentration Polarization
AU - Li, Meng
AU - Karanikola, Vasiliki
AU - Zhang, Xuan
AU - Wang, Lianjun
AU - Elimelech, Menachem
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21774058 and 51778292), Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes (Tianjin Polytechnic University, M2-201604), and the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Justice at the University of Arizona.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/5/8
Y1 - 2018/5/8
N2 - Conventional asymmetric or thin-film composite forward osmosis (FO) membranes suffer from severe internal concentration polarization, which significantly hinders process performance and practical applications. Here we report the synthesis of the COOH-derived polyoxadiazole copolymer for the fabrication of a self-standing selective thin film without a support layer. The thickness of the membrane was controlled at merely a few micrometers to achieve a high rate of rejection of the Na2SO4 draw solution, while maintaining acceptable water permeability. Because of the symmetric architecture, the membrane exhibited excellent and identical FO performance at both of its sides. The structural parameter of the fabricated membranes was zero because of the absence of internal concentration polarization in the symmetric FO membranes. Our results highlight the potential of support-free membranes for the further development of FO technology.
AB - Conventional asymmetric or thin-film composite forward osmosis (FO) membranes suffer from severe internal concentration polarization, which significantly hinders process performance and practical applications. Here we report the synthesis of the COOH-derived polyoxadiazole copolymer for the fabrication of a self-standing selective thin film without a support layer. The thickness of the membrane was controlled at merely a few micrometers to achieve a high rate of rejection of the Na2SO4 draw solution, while maintaining acceptable water permeability. Because of the symmetric architecture, the membrane exhibited excellent and identical FO performance at both of its sides. The structural parameter of the fabricated membranes was zero because of the absence of internal concentration polarization in the symmetric FO membranes. Our results highlight the potential of support-free membranes for the further development of FO technology.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046730672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046730672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00117
DO - 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00117
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046730672
SN - 2328-8930
VL - 5
SP - 266
EP - 271
JO - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
JF - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
IS - 5
ER -