CDs@ZIF-8 Modified Thin Film Polyamide Nanocomposite Membrane for Simultaneous Enhancement of Chlorine-Resistance and Disinfection Byproducts Removal in Drinking Water

Reverse osmosis (RO) is an emerging membrane technology for disinfection byproducts (DBPs) removal. However, the chlorine-resistance and DBPs removal performance of thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes should be simultaneously improved when used in chlorinated drinking water. This study was dedicated to synthesize a novel nanoparticle of ZIF-8 with carbon dots (CDs@ZIF-8) and then modify thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes to enhance their performance in removing four trihalomethanes (THMs), four haloacetonitriles (HANs), and two haloketones (HKs) in chlorinated drinking water. The fabricated CDs@ZIF-8 nanoparticles and TFN membranes were characterized by FESEM, AFM, XPS, water contact angle, membrane surface potential, and a three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (EEM) to investigate the influences of CDs@ZIF-8 on TFN membranes. After chlorination, percentage reduction in salt rejection of the CDs@ZIF-8 TFN membranes was lower than that of the TFC membranes due to hydrogen bonding between CDs and polyamide, replacing amidic hydrogen with chlorine, rendering the membrane less susceptible to chlorine attack and enhancing chlorine-resistance. Results also showed that the rejection of DBPs in chlorinated drinking water by CDs@ZIF-8 TFN membranes was more than 95%. The large surface area and abundant oxygen-containing groups of CDs@ZIF-8 made the nanoparticle act as a nanocarbon filler with high adsorption capacity of DBPs. The enhanced performances of chlorine-resistance and DBPs removal by CDs@ZIF-8 TFN membranes determined in this study provided valuable insights on the DBPs control in chlorinated drinking water by RO membranes.