负载羧基化球状介孔纳米颗粒TFN膜的研究

Thin film composite (TFC) membranes incorporated with inorganic nanoparticles to form thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes, which had attracted much attention recently. However, the instability of nanoparticles in the TFC membranes and the insufficient mechanical strength of the membranes became the main challenges. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles with an average particle size of ca. 110 nm were modified with carboxyl groups, noted as MSN-COOH and further immobilized on the functional layer of the TFC membranes. The carboxyl groups were successfully incorporated into the mesoporous channels of MSN by characterization techniques, MSN-COOH nanoparticles were successfully bonded to the surface functional layer of the TFC film and formed the crosslinked network. Our experimental results revealed that the TFN membrane hybridized with MSN-COOH demonstrated up to 56.2% improvement in water flux, higher salt rejection, and improved mechanical strength compared to the control TFC membranes. Due to the addition of hydrophilic functional groups in monodisperse mesoporous nanoparticles, the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface was increased. Because of the ordered arrangement of monodisperse mesoporous nanoparticles in the matrix, the roughness of the membrane was lowered to a great extent, which was beneficial for enhancing water molecular transfer and fouling resistance of the membranes. Compared with plain TFN membranes, it had better stability and flexibility which kept the stabilization of membranes under high pressure filtration operation.