Abstract Here, we present a facile solvent activation method for significantly enhancing the desalination performance of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Polyamide (PA)-thin film composite (TFC) RO membranes were activated with a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/water mixture, whose solvency power was carefully controlled by adjusting the DMSO volume fraction. A DMSO/water mixture with a DMSO volume fraction of 0.3 effectively activated the PA selective layer while marginally deforming the polysulfone support of the lab-made PA-TFC membrane, thus considerably enhancing its water permeance by ∼43% while maintaining its NaCl rejection (∼99.4%). All the commercial membranes activated with the optimized DMSO/water activation protocol also exhibited dramatically enhanced water permeance (26–155%) with unchanged or even higher NaCl rejection, surpassing the conventional permeability–selectivity trade-off. A careful characterization of the structures and properties of the model PA film under various solvent environments revealed the thermodynamics and kinetics associated with the activation-induced structural deformation of the PA network, which governs its structural density, consequently affecting the separation properties of the membrane. Our strategy provides a commercially viable means for the fabrication of high-performance membranes together with shedding light on the underlying the structure-property relationship of polymeric membranes.

中文翻译：

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通过受控溶剂活化克服脱盐膜的渗透性-选择性权衡

摘要 在这里，我们提出了一种简便的溶剂活化方法，可显着提高反渗透 (RO) 膜的脱盐性能。聚酰胺 (PA)-薄膜复合材料 (TFC) RO 膜用二甲基亚砜 (DMSO)/水混合物活化，其溶解能力通过调节 DMSO 体积分数来小心控制。DMSO 体积分数为 0.3 的 DMSO/水混合物有效地激活了 PA 选择性层，同时使实验室制造的 PA-TFC 膜的聚砜载体略微变形，从而在保持其对 NaCl 的排斥性的同时显着提高了其水渗透率约 43%。约 99.4%）。使用优化的 DMSO/水活化方案活化的所有商业膜也表现出显着增强的水渗透性 (26-155%)，而 NaCl 截留率保持不变甚至更高，超越传统的渗透率 - 选择性权衡。在各种溶剂环境下对模型 PA 膜的结构和性质的仔细表征揭示了与 PA 网络的活化诱导结构变形相关的热力学和动力学，这控制了其结构密度，从而影响了膜的分离性能。我们的策略为制造高性能膜提供了一种商业上可行的方法，同时揭示了聚合物膜的结构-性能关系。在各种溶剂环境下对模型 PA 膜的结构和性质的仔细表征揭示了与 PA 网络的活化诱导结构变形相关的热力学和动力学，这控制了其结构密度，从而影响了膜的分离性能。我们的策略为制造高性能膜提供了一种商业上可行的方法，同时揭示了聚合物膜的结构-性能关系。在各种溶剂环境下对模型 PA 膜的结构和性质的仔细表征揭示了与 PA 网络的活化诱导结构变形相关的热力学和动力学，这控制了其结构密度，从而影响了膜的分离性能。我们的策略为制造高性能膜提供了一种商业上可行的方法，同时揭示了聚合物膜的结构-性能关系。