Transferring bulk chemistry to interfacial synthesis of TFC-membranes to create chemically robust poly(epoxyether) films

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Membrane technology is currently still excluded from separations in more aggressive feeds due to limited chemical robustness. To extent its applicability, a novel thin-film composite (TFC)membrane was synthesized via the homopolymerization of epoxide monomers, resulting in robust poly(epoxyether)top-layers with >90% rose bengal (MW = 1017 Da)and 70% methyl orange (MW = 327 Da)retention with reasonable water fluxes (>2 L m -2 h −1 bar −1 ). The superior chemical stability of this novel nanofiltration membrane type was proven via treatments in pH 1 and 500 ppm NaOCl (pH 4)for, respectively, 48 h and 2.5 h, after which an unchanged or even improved membrane performance was observed. Additionally, the synthesis of the thin top-layer occurred via an interfacial initiation of the polymerization (IIP), rather than via state-of-the-art interfacial polymerization (IP). This IIP approach allowed to convert well-known monophasic bulk epoxide polymerization (commonly used in e.g. the automotive and coating industry), into the synthesis of thin, yet cross-linked top-layers. ispartof: JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE vol:582 pages:442-453 status: published