Influence of modifying interfacial polymerization compositions on the performance of composite forward osmosis hollow fiber membranes

In this work, novel thin-film composite forward osmosis (TFC-FO) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated by modifying polyamide active layer via interfacial polymerization method. Effect of the incorporation of phase-transfer catalysts (PTCs), lithium chloride (LiCl), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), acetone as additives in the aqueous phase or organic phase system on the morphologies and performance of TFC-FO membranes was investigated, respectively. It was observed that the changes of interfacial polymerization compositions could significantly modify polyamide active layer, which ultimately changing the performance of composite FO hollow fiber membranes. The novel TFC-FO hollow fiber membranes developed in this work displayed a relatively high water flux in range from 16.7 to 40.2 L/m2 h in the AL-DS configuration using 0.5 M NaCl as draw solution and deionized water as feed solution. The corresponding JS/JV ratio is in the range of 0.08 g/L to 0.25 g/L. This study will provide a clear research direction for further improving the performance of TFC-FO membranes.