TFC polyamide membranes modified by grafting of hydrophilic polymers: An FT-IR/AFM/TEM study

Viatcheslav Freger, Jack Gilron, Sofia Belfer

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    427 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Surface modification using grafting of a hydrophilic polymer onto the membrane surface is a possible route to improving the fouling properties of polyamide thin-film composite membranes. The structure of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes modified using graft polymerization of acrylic (AA) monomers was visualized and analyzed using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that a layer of AA polymer is indeed formed on the polyamide surface, which could be accompanied by a change of the surface morphology. It was observed that for the NF membranes studied polymerization could also take place inside the pores of the support as a result of penetration of the monomer through the active layer, particularly for high degrees of grafting. It suggests that the modification procedures should be optimized so that the latter effect is minimized.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)283-292
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of Membrane Science
    Volume209
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Nov 2002

    Keywords

    • AFM
    • FT-IR
    • Grafting
    • Membrane modification
    • Nanofiltration
    • Reverse osmosis
    • TEM
    • Thin-film composite membranes

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • General Materials Science
    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
    • Filtration and Separation

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