Thin-film composite nanofiltration membranes with high flux and dye rejection fabricated from disulfonated diamine monomer

Novel nanofiltration (NF) membranes with improved flux, dye rejection, high pH and temperature resistance were developed using a disulfonated diamine co-monomer, disodium-3-3′-disulfone-4-4′-dichlorodiphenylsulfone (S-DADPS). Thin film composite (TFC) NF membranes were fabricated on a porous polysulfone-based ultrafiltration support layer via the interfacial polymerization between trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in the organic phase and S-DADPS/piperazine (PIP) mixture in the aqueous phase. The effect of S-DADPS content was investigated on the structure and properties of fabricated TFC-NF membranes by varying the ratio between S-DADPS and PIP from 0/100 to 100/0 (w/w). The chemical structure, surface properties and the morphology of TFC-NF membranes were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical profilometry, contact angle, and zeta potential measurements. Salt and dye rejection behaviors of fabricated TFC-NF membranes were evaluated using 2000 ppm MgSO4 and NaCl solutions and 100 ppm Setazol Red and Reactive Orange 16 dyes, respectively. Dyes were filtrated in acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions for pH resistance tests. The temperature resistance of membranes was evaluated using pure water and dye solutions at 15 °C, 25 °C, and 40 °C. Among all TFC-NF membranes fabricated by varying the S-DADPS/PIP ratio, the membrane with an 80/20 ratio of S-DADPS/PIP resulted in superior properties such as increased water flux without considerable salt and dye rejection loss compared to the neat TFC-NF membrane without S-DADPS. In addition, the variation of S-DADPS/PIP ratio was demonstrated as a powerful tool to tune the balance of flux, separation and rejection performance of NF membranes for custom purification purposes. [Display omitted] •Novel nanofiltration (NF) membranes with improved flux, dye rejection, high pH and temperature resistance were developed using a disulfonated diamine monomer.•The variation of S-DADPS:PIP ratio enabled the fabrication of nanofiltration membranes with a tunable balance of flux, separation and rejection performance for custom purification.•The use of S-DADPS in the fabrication of TFC-NF membranes results in enhanced flux without any considerable salt and dye rejection loss.•High pH and temperature resistance membranes were obtained for dye rejection.•The optimum NF performances were obtained with TFC 80 membrane that consisted of 90% S-DADPS and 20% PIP.