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High performance polyester reverse osmosis desalination membrane with chlorine resistance

Author

Listed:
  • Yujian Yao

    (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)

  • Pingxia Zhang

    (Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Chao Jiang

    (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)

  • Ryan M. DuChanois

    (Yale University)

  • Xuan Zhang

    (Nanjing University of Science and Technology
    Yale University)

  • Menachem Elimelech

    (Yale University)

Abstract

Chlorination is a common practice to prevent biofouling in municipal water supplies, wastewater reuse and seawater desalination. However, polyamide thin-film composite reverse osmosis membranes—the premier technology for desalination and clean-water production—structurally deteriorate when continually exposed to chlorine species. Here, we use layer-by-layer interfacial polymerization of 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid with trimesoyl chloride to fabricate a polyester thin-film composite reverse osmosis membrane that is chlorine-resistant in neutral and acidic conditions. Strong steric hindrance and an electron-withdrawing group effectively prevent direct aromatic chlorination, and residual OH groups capped with isophthaloyl dichloride preclude reaction with active chlorine. The poly(isophthalester) membrane exhibits high salt rejection (99.1 ± 0.2%) and water permeability (2.97 ± 0.13 l m−2 h−1 bar−1), even after demonstrating biofouling prevention with chlorine (50 mg l−1 of NaOCl for 15 min). We anticipate that our chlorine-resistant membrane will greatly advance reverse osmosis desalination as a sustainable technology to meet the global challenge of water supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Yujian Yao & Pingxia Zhang & Chao Jiang & Ryan M. DuChanois & Xuan Zhang & Menachem Elimelech, 2021. "High performance polyester reverse osmosis desalination membrane with chlorine resistance," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 138-146, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00619-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00619-w
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    Cited by:

    1. Xuechen Zhou & Rahul Shevate & Dahong Huang & Tianchi Cao & Xin Shen & Shu Hu & Anil U. Mane & Jeffrey W. Elam & Jae-Hong Kim & Menachem Elimelech, 2023. "Ceramic thin-film composite membranes with tunable subnanometer pores for molecular sieving," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Qian Zhang & Bo Gao & Ling Zhang & Xiaopeng Liu & Jixiang Cui & Yijun Cao & Hongbo Zeng & Qun Xu & Xinwei Cui & Lei Jiang, 2023. "Anomalous water molecular gating from atomic-scale graphene capillaries for precise and ultrafast molecular sieving," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

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