Fabrication of composite nanofiltration membranes by dopamine-assisted poly(ethylene imine) deposition and cross-linking

Positively charged composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes with good stability were prepared by dopamine (DA) assisted poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) deposition on a polysulfone ultrafiltration (UF) substrate followed by a cross-linking step. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, and atom force microscopy were employed to characterize the surface chemistry and morphology of the obtained composite membranes. The DA and PEI co-deposition conditions were optimized based on knowledge of the co-deposition mechanism. The effects of the cross-linker concentration, cross-linking time, and reaction temperature on the permeation and separation properties of the prepared composite membranes were investigated in detail. Under optimized conditions, the MgCl2 rejection and permeation flux of the composite membrane reached 80.4% and 19.6 L/(m2·h), respectively (the feed was 0.01 mol/L of MgCl2 solution under a test pressure of 0.4 MPa). The rejection of various salts followed the order MgCl2≈CaCl2>MgSO4>NaCl>Na2SO4, suggesting the membranes were positively charged. The composite membranes showed good durability under alkaline aqueous conditions. This study provided new insights into the fabrication of mussel-inspired thin-film composite nanofiltration membranes.