Thin film composite polyelectrolyte multilayer nanofiltration membrane fabricated using spin assisted layer by layer assembly: Application of solution diffusion film model

Abstract

Thin Film Composite (TFC) Polyelectrolyte Multilayer (PEM) Nanofiltration (NF) membrane consisting of multilayer of Poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (PDAC) and Poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) deposited on polyethersulfone (PES) support was prepared using spin-assisted layer by layer assembly (SA-LbL). This work is an effort to discover a new material with better characteristics and performance compared to commercial polyamide (PA) NF membrane. Two main operating conditions, namely temperature and salt concentration as well as their effect on membrane performance were investigated and studied. Solution-diffusion Film Model (SDFM) membrane employing two fitting parameters i.e. membrane salt permeability (PS) and stagnant layer salt permeability PS(δ), was used to explain membrane transport across the membrane. The result showed a good agreement between experimental and observed rejection rate suggests PEM membrane to behave similar to typical solution diffusion-type composite membrane and SDFM can be used to predict the membrane performance and behavior.