Abstract Interfacially synthesized polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes are widely employed in forward osmosis (FO) applications because of the easy fabrication and excellent separation performance. But they generally suffer from the relative low water permeability and high fouling tendency due to the inherent hydrophobic nature of the PA layer. In this study, an efficient surface modification of nascent TFC membranes is performed by grafting a self-catalyzed tripodal amine—tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TAEA), in order to improve the membrane performance. This tertiary amine plays a dual role of the reactive amine monomer reacting with acyl chloride groups and the catalyst accelerating the amidation reaction between 1,3,5-trimesoyl chloride (TMC) and TAEA, therefore contributing to an efficient grafting effect to the greatest extent. State-of-the-art characterizations are applied to verify the modification mechanism. The effects of the pH and concentration of the TAEA solution on the overall properties of the resultant TFC membranes are systematically investigated, including the surface chemical composition, surface morphology, hydrophilicity, surface charge, separation performance, and fouling resistance. Compared with the control TFC membrane, TAEA-modified TFC membranes exhibit significantly improved water fluxes, higher antifouling propensity, and comparable reverse salt fluxes.

中文翻译：

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用自催化三（2-氨基乙基）胺对薄膜复合膜进行有效表面改性以进行正向渗透分离

摘要 界面合成聚酰胺 (PA) 薄膜复合 (TFC) 膜由于易于制造和优异的分离性能而被广泛应用于正向渗透 (FO) 应用。但由于 PA 层固有的疏水性，它们通常具有相对较低的透水性和较高的污垢倾向。在这项研究中，通过接枝自催化的三足胺——三（2-氨基乙基）胺（TAEA），对新生的 TFC 膜进行了有效的表面改性，以提高膜的性能。这种叔胺起到了反应性胺单体与酰氯基团反应和催化剂加速1,3,5-均苯三甲酰氯（TMC）与TAEA之间酰胺化反应的双重作用，从而最大程度地促进高效接枝效果. 应用最先进的特征来验证修改机制。系统地研究了 TAEA 溶液的 pH 值和浓度对所得 TFC 膜整体性能的影响，包括表面化学成分、表面形态、亲水性、表面电荷、分离性能和抗污染性。与对照 TFC 膜相比，TAEA 改性的 TFC 膜表现出显着改善的水通量、更高的防污倾向和可比的反向盐通量。亲水性、表面电荷、分离性能和抗污染性。与对照 TFC 膜相比，TAEA 改性的 TFC 膜表现出显着改善的水通量、更高的防污倾向和可比的反向盐通量。亲水性、表面电荷、分离性能和抗污染性。与对照 TFC 膜相比，TAEA 改性的 TFC 膜表现出显着改善的水通量、更高的防污倾向和可比的反向盐通量。