Hydrophilic Surface Modification of TFC Reverse Osmosis Membrane Using Blends of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Chitosan

ABSTRACT

The present work showed a scalable protocol for anchoring hydrophilic layer over the polyamide using biodegradable polysaccharide solutions of carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) and chitosan. CMC and chitosan were blended in different concentration ratios with and without an oxidative environment. The membrane treated with CMC: Chitosan blend demonstrated upto 153.97% and 240.47% increment in water permeance without and with oxidative environment respectively as compared to the virgin thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane. The modified membranes had shown considerable decline in contact angle from 48.37° to 35.66°, changes in surface roughness, morphology and chemical structural changes of the top surface.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Surface modification
• Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium
• chitosan
• polyamide
• energy consumption

Acknowledgments

CSIR-CSMCRI PRIS NO. 218/2021. Authors acknowledge the funding support of Department of Science and Technology, India project no. DST/TDT/WMT/fouled Membranes/2021/01. Authors acknowledge the Analytical and Environmental Science Division and Centralized Instrumental Facility (AESD-CIF), CSIR-CSMCRI for different instruments support and Mr. Mayur Raviya for help rendered in contact angle analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology [DST/TDT/WMT/fouled Membranes/2021/01].