title: Solvothermal synthesis of nanoporous TiO2: the impact on thin-film composite membranes for engineered osmosis application.
abstract: In the current study, the impact of self-synthesized nanoporous titanium oxide (NT) on the morphology, performance and fouling of a polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membrane was investigated when the membrane was applied for engineering osmosis (EO). The nanoporous structure and the spindle-like shape of NT were revealed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), while the AATPS modification of NT was verified by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of modified NT (mNT) in the PA dense active layer of the TFC membrane. The outgrowth of the 'leaf-like' structure, upon mNT loading, at the surface of the PA layer was observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The TFC membrane prepared with 0.05 wt% mNT loading in the organic phase showed the water flux of 26.4 l m(-2) h(-1) when tested in the forward osmosis (FO) mode using 0.5M and 10 mM NaCl solution as the draw and feed solution, respectively. Moreover, the TFC-mNT membrane also demonstrated an intensified antifouling property against organic foulant during FO application and it was possible to retrieve the initial water flux almost completely with a simple water-rinsing process.
authors.affiliation: Industrial Membrane Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur St, Ottawa, Canada ON K1N 6N5. Department of Chemical Engineering, Gachsaran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran, Iran.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Emadzadeh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghanbari
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahbari-Sisakht
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kruczek