Issue 12, 2019

Comparison of performance and biofouling resistance of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes with substrate/active layer modified by graphene oxide

Abstract

In this study, the influence mechanisms of graphene oxide (GO) on the membrane substrate/active layer for improving the water flux and anti-biofouling ability of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes in forward osmosis (FO) were systematically investigated. We fabricated a pristine TFC membrane, a TFC membrane in which the substrate or polyamide active layer was modified by GO (TFN-S membrane or TFN-A membrane), and a TFC membrane in which both the substrate and active layer were functionalized by GO (TFN-S + A membrane). Our results showed that the TFN-S membrane possesses a higher water flux (∼27.2%) than the TFN-A because the substrate that contained GO could improve the porous structure and porosity, while the TFN-A membrane exhibited a lower reverse salt flux and higher salt rejection than the TFN-S membrane, indicating that the surface properties played a more important role than the substrate for the salt rejection. Regarding the biofouling experiment, the TFN-A and TFN-S + A membranes facilitated a higher antifouling performance than the TFN-S and TFC membranes after 72 h of operation because of the greater hydrophilicity, lower roughness and facilitated higher bactericidal activity on the GO-modified surface. In addition, the biovolume and biofilm thickness of the TFN-A and TFN-S + A membranes were found to follow the same trend as flux decline performance. In conclusion, the substrate modified by GO could greatly improve the water flux, whereas the GO-functionalized active layer is favorable for salt rejection and biofouling mitigation. The advantage of TFN-A in biofouling mitigation suggests that the antibacterial effect of GO has a stronger influence on biofouling control than the changes of hydrophilicity and roughness.

Graphical abstract: Comparison of performance and biofouling resistance of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes with substrate/active layer modified by graphene oxide

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 okt 2018
Accepted
19 feb 2019
First published
25 feb 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 6502-6509

Comparison of performance and biofouling resistance of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes with substrate/active layer modified by graphene oxide

Y. Li, Y. Yang, C. Li and L. Hou, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 6502 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA08838A

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