In-situ Growth of Tubular MoS2 Membrane on Ceramic Tube with Improved Organic Solvent Nanofiltration Performances

As a unique characteristic two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has become a promising membrane material for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) due to its good separation performance and stability. In this work, an MoS2 tubular ceramic membrane is prepared via an in situ hydrothermal method, exhibiting quite good stability in organic solvent. The 3D nanoflower-like structure of the MoS2 layer endows the modified membrane with an excellent OSN performance. With separation of a methanol solution of Evans blue (EB), the methanol flux was 403.1 L m−2 h−1 MPa−1 and the rejection of EB was 98.1%. The adhesion structures at the surface of MoS2/Al2O3 were evaluated using density functional theory, and an interfacial distance of 3.2 A was obtained. Considering non-bond S–O interactions in addition to van der Waals forces, the work of adhesion (0.55 J m−2) and charge transfer process between the MoS2 layer and the ceramic substrate indicate good stability. The MoS2 tubular ceramic membrane maintains separation stability after performing in organic solvents of DMF for 80 h under cross-flow.