Interfacial polymerization using biobased solvents and desalination and organic solvent nanofiltration membranes
Researchers found that the use of bio-based solvents such as cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF) in interfacial polymerization leads to the production of thin-film-based composite membranes with higher performance properties.
Thin-film composite membranes are widely regarded as more sustainable technologies for desalination and organic solvent nanofiltration. However, the process of fabricating these membranes is not. This is because n-hexane, a toxic and hazardous solvent, or other fossil-derived oily solvents are used as the organic phase to fabricate polyamide selective layers of such membranes. Here we replaced fossil-derived solvents with benign, bio-renewable solvents that possess better environmental, health and safety metrics – cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF). A fully aromatic polyamide thin film composite (TFC) membrane fabricated via CPME demonstrated a higher NaCl rejection (97.8%), while the same membrane fabricated using n-hexane only presented 92.4% rejection. Meanwhile a semi-aromatic polyamide TFC membrane fabricated with 2-MeTHF showed an ethanol permeance of 9.87 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and 97.1% RB rejection, 3.7-fold higher than the TFC fabricated using n-hexane.
This demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of replacing toxic and hazardous solvents that have long been the standard solvents used in membrane fabrication, with benign alternatives. This research could potentially improve the sustainability of membrane fabrication.
This research was puclished in Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 692, February 2024.
Reading tip: Nanotechnology
The chemical nanotechnology is one of the special areas of nanotechnology. By varying the composition, shape, size or character of the surface, these nanoparticles can be shaped time and again into small building blocks, resulting in unprecedented scopes for material design. At this moment in time, the developments in the field of modern nanotechnology provide amazing success stories, such as the possibility for reconstructing surface structures for industrial materials that are demonstrated to us in nature.
In “Nanotechnology” the reader will receive an overview of coatings systems based on the application of chemical nanotechnology. Practitioners will be given an introduction to nanostructured coatings and experts will find the account of various silanebased materials useful.
