Electrospun chitosan nanofiber constructing superhigh-water-flux forward osmosis membrane

Forward osmosis (FO) technology exhibits great potential in seawater desalination and wastewater treatment due to its negligible energy consumption and high antifouling, however, the weak desalination capability, especially low water flux, remains challenging. Herein, a cost-effective and high-desalination-performance chitosan (CS)-based FO membrane is developed via coupling the electrospinning CS nanofibers and interfacial-polymerized polyamide (PA). The electrospun nanofibers construct the porous and hydrophilic CS layer with the large pore-diameter of ~274 nm and low thickness of ~10 μm, enabling the effective transport of water molecules, specifically, a superhigh water flux of 107.53 LMH at a low salt-water ratio of 0.24 g·L-1. In addition, such superior desalination performance of the as-prepared FO membrane is universal for the various salt species and concentrations. Our CS nanofiber-based membrane with the high separation capability of water-salt, desirable antibacterial activity, as well as the low cost, offers a roadmap toward the sustainable membrane materials.