Surface modification of forward osmosis membrane using polyoxometalate based open frameworks for hydrophilicity and water flux improvement

Abstract Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a novel membrane-based separation method for application for wastewater treatment, seawater desalination,and sustainable energy. A major challenge in the development of forward osmosis process is the lack of a high-efficiency membrane. In this study, a next-generation membrane for FO process was investigated by integrating nanotechnology with membrane science. Incorporation of polyoxometalate based open frameworks (POM-OFs) within the polyamide (PA) active layer of thin film composite (TFC) membrane has generated a new type of thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with significantly enhanced hydrophilicity and permeability properties. The successful incorporation of the POM-OFs in the membranes active layer was investigated through Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods. The water flux of POM-OFs modified membrane (TFN w3 , containing 500 ppm of POM-OFs) in FO and PRO modes was 29.9 and 41.7 LMH, the value of which was about two times those of TFC membrane. In conclusion, we report a novel forward osmosis membrane for wastewater treatment.