Development of titanium dioxide incorporated ultrathin cellulose acetate membrane for enhanced forward osmosis performance

This study was conducted to develop ultrathin forward osmosis (FO) membrane by phase inversion process. Hydrophilic cellulose acetate (CA) polymer and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles were used to form a highly water permeable and stable FO membrane. The physical characteristics of prepared nanomaterial and membrane were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, elemental mapping and x-ray diffraction. The FO performance of the developed membrane was evaluated in terms of pure osmotic water flux and reverse salt flux. A consistent water flux was observed during a long-term experiment with the help of the fabricated membrane. Average water flux of 33.63 L/m 2 /h and reverse salt flux of 10.34 g/m 2 /h were achieved due to extensive hydrogen bonding between cellulose ester and titania particles. The resultant membrane was found to be highly efficient in terms of FO performance and can be utilized for efficient desalinization of water.