Synthesis and characterization of thin film composite membranes made of PSF-TiO2/GO nanocomposite substrate for forward osmosis applications

Abstract

Support layer of thin film composite (TFC) membrane plays an important role in forward osmosis (FO) performance. A new type of support layer or nanocomposite substrate was developed by incorporating titanium dioxide (TiO2)/graphene oxide (GO) into polysulfone (PSF) matrix. Prior to performance evaluation, the developed substrates were characterized with respect to surface chemistry, roughness and cross-sectional morphology. The results showed that both surface hydrophilicity and roughness of PSF-based substrates were increased upon incorporation of nanomaterials. Substrates with long finger-like voids extended from the top to the bottom could be developed upon incorporation of TiO2 (SubstrateTiO2) or TiO2/GO mixture (SubstrateTiO2/GO). The improved surface hydrophilicity and favorable structure formed are the main factors leading to higher water flux of nanocomposite substrate. Moreover, the water flux of FO using TFC membranes could be enhanced using this nanocomposite substrate. Comparing to the control TFC membrane, the TFC membranes made of SubstrateTiO2 and SubstrateTiO2/GO exhibited greater water flux with minimum increase in reverse draw solute flux. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the incorporation of TiO2 and/or GO nanoparticles into PSF substrate could potentially improve the TFC membrane performance during FO applications.