Improving dye removal ability and fouling resistance of thin-film nanocomposite nanofiltration membranes using a new citric acid functionalized FSM-16 mesoporous

The development of superior thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes with good separation performance and anti-fouling capacity is required to address the larger-scale freshwater need. In this study, a new citric acid-functionalized FSM-16 (CA-FSM-16) mesoporous was successfully synthesized and characterized. Subsequently, it was introduced on the surface of the sodium hydroxide/cyanuric chloride-activated PES membrane to fabricate the CA-FSM-16 TFN membrane. It was investigated how various CA-FSM-16 loadings affected the overall physicochemical characteristics and performance of the membrane. The SEM analysis confirmed the TFN structure of the fabricated membranes. All manufactured membranes displayed improved hydrophilicity and flux. For the pristine membrane, the salt (Na2SO4) rejection was measured 73.20 +/- 2.10%, whereas for the TFN-0.08 membrane, it was measured 91.40 +/- 1.80%. The dye rejection experiment in cross-flow filtration showed that the TFN-0.08 membrane had the maximum licorice retention among the membranes (99.10 +/- 2.00%). In addition, the CA-FSM-16 TFN membranes demonstrated superior antifouling performance, especially the optimum membrane (TFN-0.08), which showed a high flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 97.10 +/- 1.90% and a low irreversible fouling ratio (DRir) of 2.90%. The introduction of CA-FSM-16 on the surface of the PES membrane via the surface modification method was a potentially useful technology to fabricate a high-performing TFN membrane for water treatment applications.