Nano-modification of polyamide thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes by radiation grafting

Radiation synthesis of reverse osmosis membranes were carried out by grafting of N-Isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) and ZnO nanoparticles incorporation onto polyamide thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes PA(TFC). The effect of monomer concentration, radiation time and concentration of ZnO nanoparticles on the grafting percent were investigated. The properties of the prepared grafted reverse osmosis membranes were characterized by using different analytical tools such as contact angles goniometer, Fourier transform IR (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). The performance of the reverse osmosis process of the neat and the modified PA(TFC) membranes in terms of water flux and salt rejection (%) was investigated. The chlorine and biofouling resistance properties of the neat and the modified PA(TFC) membrane were evaluated. It is found that, the performance of the modified ZnO NPs/P(NIPAM)-g-PA(TFC) membrane is much better than the neat PA(TFC) membrane.