title: Hydroxyl functionalized polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole as substrates for forward osmosis membranes.
abstract: Hydroxyl functionalized polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole (PTA-POD) copolymers have been synthesized and cast as promising highly thermally stable, chemically resistant, and antiorganic/biological fouling porous substrates for the fabrication of thin-film composite (TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes. The roles of PTA/POD ratios in the membrane substrates, TFC layers, and FO membrane performance have been investigated. This study demonstrates that the substrate fabricated from the copolymer containing 40 mol % PTA is optimal for the TFC membranes. Compared to the POD-TFC membrane, the 40 mol % PTA-TFC membrane exhibits a remarkable decrease in structural parameter (S) of more than 3.3 times. In addition, the 40 mol % PTA-TFC membrane is characterized by high water fluxes of 24.9 LMH and 47.2 LMH using 1 M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed under FO and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) modes, respectively. Compared to a polysulfone (PSU) supported TFC-FO membrane under similar fabrication conditions, the 40% mol PTA-TFC membrane shows better FO performance and enhanced antifouling properties on the support (lower protein binding propensity and improved bacterial inhibition). Moreover, the performance of the 40 mol % PTA supported TFC-FO membrane can be improved to 37.5 LMH (FO mode)/78.4 LMH (PRO mode) and potentially higher by optimizing the support morphology, the TFC formation, and the post-treatment process. Hence, the use of newly developed hydroxyl functionalized polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole copolymers may open up a new class of material for FO processes.
authors: Water Desalination & Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Phuoc H H
authors: PH
authors: Duong
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Chisca
authors: Pei-Ying
authors: PY
authors: Hong
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Cheng
authors: Suzana P
authors: SP
authors: Nunes
authors: Tai-Shung
authors: TS
authors: Chung
mesh_terms: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D009995:Osmosis; D010069:Oxadiazoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D014230:Triazoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010069:Oxadiazoles; D011108:Polymers; D014230:Triazoles
keywords: forward osmosis; membrane; polyoxadiazole; polytriazole; water