Fabrication of Poly(amide-co-ester) Solvent Resistant Nanofiltration Membrane from P-nitrophenol and Trimethyl Chloride via Interfacial Polymerization

P-nitrophenol (PNP), a refractory hazardous substance, has not been efficiently utilized so far. In this paper, PNP is used as a membrane modification material for preparing poly(amide-co-ester) composite nanofiltration membrane. An organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membrane was prepared via interfacial polymerization reactionby using PNP and trimethyl chloride (TMC) on a ethylenediamine (EDA) crosslinked polyetherimide substrate. The results of ATR-FTIR and XPS show that interfacial polymerization occurs among with PNP and TMC and the terminal amine groups on the ethylenediamine crosslinked -PEI support forming a poly(amide-co-ester) toplayer. The NF-1PNP membrane maintained stable DMF performance permeance of 2.2 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and rejection of 98% for Rose Bengal red (RB 1017.64 g mol−1) in 36 h continuous separation process. Furthermore, the average pore diameter of the two membranes including NF-1PNP and NF-1.25PNP, which is 0.40 and 0.36nm, respectively. This study not only provides a good way for the preparation of OSN membrane, but also provides a good demonstration for the comprehensive utilization of PNP and other toxic and harmful pollutants.