Synthesis and characterization of phase inversion membrane with MOS2

Abstract

The aim of the project is to synthesize and characterize phase inversion membrane with MoS2 and find the best way to reach its best performance. MoS2 is used as a nanocomposite to improvement membrane performance. MoS2 can increase the water flux at an early stage when MoS2 concentration is approaching 0.05% in FO and 0.1% in PRO under 1M or 2M sodium chlorine solution. Additional addition of MoS2 can no longer increase the water flux because aggregated nanocomposites block part of pores in membrane. A membrane under higher osmotic pressure requires higher MoS2 concentration to reach its best water flux. The addition of MoS2 into the membrane can affect reverse salt flux much greater than water flux. Even a small loading of MoS2 can reduce reverse salt flux greatly compared to membrane without addition. Membrane with MoS2 has Mo part with a hydrophilic entrance and a tight center while S part with a hydrophobic entrance and an expanding center. An appropriate irregularity can help improve the performance of the membrane, but membrane with extra irregularity will lead to a decrease in water flux. The higher concentration of nanocomposite MoS2 can lead to a more hydrophilic active layer. With the concentration of MoS2 continuously increases, relative intensity increases accordingly. However, after a certain concentration, the relative intensity remains the same or even decreases. For membrane with 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2% MoS2, when the concentration of MoS2 increases, relative intensity increases accordingly. However, as the amount of MoS2 continuously increases to 0.5% and 1.5% the relative intensity doesn’t change a lot.