Performance evaluation of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes incorporated silica nanoparticles for concentrating peach juice: An invitro evaluation

In this study, a mixture of water and peach juice is used as feed for the reverse osmosis (RO) device. Polyester sheet, polyester sulfone polymer and polyamide from interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) monomers with silica nanoparticles are used to produce the membrane. A solution of Poly (ether sulfone) (PES) is prepared in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent with 10 wt%, 15 wt%, and 20 wt% and the addition of 0.5 wt%, 1.5 wt%, and 3 wt% of silica nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis are used to evaluate the morphology and functional groups of the prepared membranes. According to the SEM images, it is observed that the membrane consists of three layers and the polyamide layer (surface) of the membrane, is responsible for the main separation is dense hills and valleys' surface morphology. The polyester sulfone layer (middle) has finger-shaped porosity and the obtained results of the contact angle test show that with increasing silica nanoparticles, the membrane becomes more hydrophilic and the angle decreases as the polyester sulfone layer (middle) have finger-shaped porosity. Chemical bonds formed in the resulting membrane structure were identified, including sulfonylide, polyamide, and silica nanoparticles. The results of the contact angle test show that as the silica nanoparticle increases, the membrane became more hydrophilic and the angle was decreased. The sample with 3% nanoparticles has the lowest angle and the highest level of hydrophilicity, followed by the membrane 151.5, which has 1.5% nanoparticles, and then the membrane 150 without nanoparticles.