Chlorine resistance property improvement of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes through cross-linking degree increment

Highly permeable polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are desirable for reducing the energy burden and ensuring future water resources in arid and semiarid regions. One notable drawback of thin film composite (TFC) polyamide RO/NF membranes is the polyamide's sensitivity to degradation by free chlorine, the most used biocide in water purification trains. This investigation demonstrated a significant increase in the crosslinking-degree parameter by the m-phenylenediamine (MPD) chemical structure extending in the thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane without adding extra MPD monomers to enhance the chlorine resistance and performance. Membrane modification was carried out according to monomer ratio changes and Nanoparticle embedding into the PA layer approaches. A new class of TFN-RO membranes incorporating novel aromatic amine functionalized (AAF)-MWCNTs embedded into the polyamide (PA) layer was introduced. A purposeful strategy was carried out to use cyanuric chloride (2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine) as an intermediate functional group in the AAF-MWCNTs. Thus, amidic nitrogen, connected to benzene rings and carbonyl groups, assembles a structure similar to the standard PA, consisting of MPD and trimesoyl chloride. The resulting AAF-MWCNTs were mixed in the aqueous phase during the interfacial polymerization to increase the susceptible positions to chlorine attack and improve the crosslinking degree in the PA network. The characterization and performance results of the membrane demonstrated an increase in ion selectivity and water flux, impressive stability of salt rejection after chlorine exposure, and improved antifouling performance. This purposeful modification resulted in overthrowing two tradeoffs; i) high crosslink density-water flux and ii) salt rejection-permeability. The modified membrane demonstrated ameliorative chlorine resistance relative to the pristine one, with twice the increase in crosslinking degree, more than four times the enhancement of the oxidation resistance, negligible reduction in the salt rejection (0.83 %), and only 5 L/m2.h flux loss following a rigorous static chlorine exposure of 500 ppm.h under acidic conditions. The excellent performance of new chlorine resistant TNF RO membranes fabricated via AAF-MWCNTs together with the facile membrane manufacturing process offered the possibility of postulating them in the desalination field, which could eventually help the current freshwater supply challenge.