Modification of thin film composite pressure retarded osmosis membrane by polyethylene glycol with different molecular weights

• Main Authors: Idris, Siti Nur Amirah, Jullok, Nora, Lau, Woei Jye, Ma’Radzi, Akmal Hadi, Ong, Hui Lin, Ramli, Muhammad Mahyidin, Dong, Cheng Di
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/103170/1/LauWoeiJye2022_ModificationofThinFilmComposite.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/103170/; http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes12030282

An investigation of the effect of the molecular weight of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on thin-film composite (TFC) flat sheet polysulfone membrane performance was conducted systematically, for application in forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). The TFC flat sheet PSf-modified membranes were prepared via a non-solvent phase-separation technique by introducing PEGs of different molecular weights into the dope solution. The TFC flat sheet PSf-PEG membranes were characterized by SEM, FTIR and AFM. The PSf membrane modified with PEG 600 was found to have the optimum composition. Under FO mode, this modified membrane had a water permeability of 12.30 Lm−2h−1 and a power density of 2.22 Wm−2, under a pressure of 8 bar in PRO mode, using 1 M NaCl and deionized water as the draw and feed solutions, respectively. The high water permeability and good mechanical stability of the modified TFC flat sheet PSF-PEG membrane in this study suggests that this membrane has great potential in future osmotically powered generation systems.