Preparation of thin-film composite membranes supported with electrospun nanofibers for desalination by forward osmosis

Abstract. The forward osmosis (FO) process has been considered to be a viable option for water desalination in comparison to the traditional processes like reverse osmosis, regarding energy consumption and economical operation. In this work, a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber support layer was prepared using the electrospinning process as a modern method. Then, an interfacial polymerization reaction between m -phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) was carried out to generate a polyamide selective thin-film composite (TFC) membrane on the support layer. The TFC membrane was tested in FO mode (feed solution facing the active layer) using the standard methodology and compared to a commercially available cellulose triacetate membrane (CTA). The synthesized membrane showed a high performance in terms of water flux (16 Lm  −2  h −1 ) but traded the salt rejection (4 gm −2  h −1 ) compared with the commercial CTA membrane (water flux  =  13 Lm −2  h −1 and salt rejection  =  3 gm −2  h −1 ) at no applied pressure and room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, mechanical properties, porosity, and performance characterizations were conducted to examine the membrane.