Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80386
Title: Synthesis and characterization of high-performance novel thin film nanocomposite PRO membranes with tiered nanofiber support reinforced by functionalized carbon nanotubes
Authors: Tian, Miao
Wang, Rong
Goh, Kunli
Liao, Yuan
Fane, Anthony G.
Keywords: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Pressure retarded osmosis
Thin film nanocomposites polyamide membrane
Interfacial polymerization
Electrospinning
Issue Date: 2015
Source: Tian, M., Wang, R., Goh, K., Liao, Y., & Fane, A. G. (2015). Synthesis and characterization of high-performance novel thin film nanocomposite PRO membranes with tiered nanofiber support reinforced by functionalized carbon nanotubes. Journal of Membrane Science, 486, 151-160.
Series/Report no.: Journal of Membrane Science
Abstract: The pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process is a novel technology which generates green electrical energy via semi-permeable membranes. However, a major challenge in the PRO system is the lack of suitable membranes with satisfactory power density (i.e., the power output per unit membrane area). In this study, we have successfully fabricated a novel thin-film composite (TFC) PRO membrane consisting of a tiered structure of polyetherimide (PEI) nanofibrous support reinforced by functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) and an ultrathin polyamide-based selective top skin layer. The tiered support was made by a fine and a coarse PEI nanofiber layers. The thin finer fiber reinforced with well dispersed f-CNTs has been found to increase mechanical stability of the polyamide selective layer, allowing the support to withstand high hydraulic pressure in the PRO system. Our optimized membrane can endure a trans-membrane pressure up to 24 bar and generate a peak power density as high as 17.3 W/m2 at 16.9 bar using synthetic seawater brine (1.0 M NaCl) as the draw solution against deionized (DI) water. In addition, the long term PRO result shows that this membrane can generate a stable power density of 15.0±0.5 W/m2 for a test period of 10 h. This demonstrates that our membrane holds great potential to be used in the PRO process.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80386
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/40500
ISSN: 0376-7388
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.054
Schools: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering 
Research Centres: Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute 
Rights: © 2015 Elsevier. This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by Journal of Membrane Science, Elsevier. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.054].
Fulltext Permission: none
Fulltext Availability: No Fulltext
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