Modified thin film nano composite membrane by incorporating graphene oxide for desalination

Abstract

Water desalination is a process to convert seawater or brackish water to industrial water and potable water. In Malaysia, water crisis occurs occasionally due to drought season, flood, water pollution from industrial, agriculture and other uncontrolled human activities. Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane separation has been traditionally used for seawater and brackish water desalination. The reasons on why RO membrane system is becoming the preferred technology for water treatment are due to its cost effective than the thermal based technology and acceptable level of salt rejection. However, the RO membranes experience fouling which negatively affects the membrane performance by reducing membrane permeability ultimately, increasing the cost of energy and decrease the longevity. Thus, further membrane development and improvement is necessary. In this study, it focuses on the modification of thin film nano composite (TFN) reverse osmosis membrane incorporated with graphene oxide (GO) as modifier to enhance the hydrophilicity of the membrane. The RO membrane was synthesized via phase inversion-immersion precipitation and modified by interfacial polymerization. Membrane performances were evaluated based on the salt rejection and the water flux by the dead end filtration