Abstract Faced with a pressing need for membranes with a higher permeability and selectivity, the field of membrane technology can benefit from a systematic framework for designing membranes with the necessary physical characteristics. In this work, we present an approach through which transport modeling is employed in fabricating specialized nanofiltration membranes, that experimentally demonstrate enhanced selectivity. Specifically, the Donnan-Steric Pore Model with dielectric exclusion (DSPM-DE) is used to probe for membrane properties desirable in desalination pretreatment. Nanofiltration membranes are systematically fabricated in-house using layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition to validate model predictions and to develop a new specialized membrane for this application. The new membrane presents a 30% increase in permeability and a 50% reduction in permeate hardness relative to state-of-the-art NF membranes. Our results indicate that a ‘specialized’ tight membrane can outperform looser counterparts in both permeability and selectivity. Given the possibility of extending this framework to other applications, the work furthers our understanding of the relationships governing membrane form and function, while having broad potential implications for future nanofiltration membranes used in chemical separation and purification.

中文翻译：

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将传输建模与纳滤膜制造相关联：在海水淡化预处理中导航渗透率 - 选择性权衡

摘要 面对对具有更高渗透性和选择性的膜的迫切需求，膜技术领域可以受益于设计具有必要物理特性的膜的系统框架。在这项工作中，我们提出了一种方法，通过该方法在制造专门的纳滤膜时采用传输模型，该方法通过实验证明了增强的选择性。具体而言，具有介电排斥的唐南-空间孔模型 (DSPM-DE) 用于探测脱盐预处理所需的膜特性。纳滤膜使用逐层 (LbL) 沉积在内部系统地制造，以验证模型预测并为此应用开发新的专用膜。与最先进的 NF 膜相比，新膜的渗透性提高了 30%，渗透物硬度降低了 50%。我们的结果表明，“专门的”紧密膜在渗透性和选择性方面都优于松散的对应物。鉴于将此框架扩展到其他应用的可能性，这项工作进一步加深了我们对膜形式和功能关系的理解，同时对未来用于化学分离和纯化的纳滤膜具有广泛的潜在影响。