title: Effect of vertically aligned carbon nanotube density on the water flux and salt rejection in desalination membranes.
abstract: In this paper, vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) membranes of different densities are developed and their performances are investigated. VACNT arrays of densities 5 × 10(9), 10(10), 5 × 10(10) and 10(11) tubes cm(-2), are initially grown on 1 cm × 1 cm silicon substrates using chemical vapour deposition. A VACNT membrane is realised by attaching a 300 μm-thick 1 cm × 1 cm VACNT array on silicon to a 4″ glass substrate, applying polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through spin coating to fill the gaps between the VACNTs, and using a microtome to slice the VACNT-PDMS composite into 25-μm-thick membranes. Experimental results show that the permeability of the developed VACNT membranes increases with the density of the VACNTs, while the salt rejection is almost independent of the VACNT density. The best measured permeance is attained with a VACNT membrane having a CNT density of 10(11) tubes cm(-2) is 1203 LMH at 1 bar.
authors: Electron Science Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027 Australia.
authors: Samarth
authors: S
authors: Trivedi
authors: Electron Science Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027 Australia.
authors: Kamal
authors: K
authors: Alameh
keywords: Nano-membranes; Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes; Water desalination