A Thin Film Nanocomposite Reverse Osmosis Membrane Incorporated with S-Beta Zeolite Nanoparticles for Water Desalination

A new type of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane incorporating S-Beta zeolite nanoparticles was synthesized through interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine and trimesoyl chloride on the surface of nanoporous membrane support. The presence of S-Beta zeolite in the polyamide layer of RO membrane was detected by scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope. The impacts of S-Beta zeolite loading ranging from 0.01 to 0.1 wt% on the separation performance of membrane were further studied and the results showed that the optimal S-Beta zeolite for RO membrane was at 0.05 wt%. Compared to the control RO membrane without nanoparticles that showed water flux of 25.36 L/(m(2).h) and NaCl rejection of 97%, the membrane incorporated with optimal zeolite loading exhibited better performance (65.25 L/(m(2).h) and 97.33%) when tested using 1500 ppm NaCl solution at 300 psi.