The rise of porous nanomaterials has stimulated a new research thrust on novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. While encouraging results of greater permeability have been reported, they are usually companied by an inferior membrane selectivity due to the agglomeration of nanomaterials and low compatibility between the nanomaterials and polyamide matrix. Herein, to sustain the membrane selectivity at the molecular level, a type of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely UiO-66-NH₂ nanoparticles, have been modified with different amount of tannic acid (TA) before participating in interfacial polymerization. Due to the inherent porous nature and improved hydrophilicity of the modified MOFs, the resultant TFN membranes (referred to as TFN-TU) show a remarkable increase in water permeance compared to both conventional thin-film composite (TFC) and UiO-66-NH₂ incorporated membranes (TFN-U). Thanks to the bridging effects of TA, TFN-TU membranes exhibit a higher salt rejection than TFN-U membranes for brackish water desalination. In addition, for seawater desalination, TFN-TU membranes possess a higher water flux as well as a higher salt rejection than the TFC membranes. This work may offer insights and strategies for the development of advanced TFN membranes for desalination with a high water product quality.

多孔纳米材料的兴起激发了对新型薄膜纳米复合材料 (TFN) 反渗透 (RO) 膜的新研究动力。虽然已经报道了更高渗透性的令人鼓舞的结果，但由于纳米材料的团聚以及纳米材料与聚酰胺基质之间的低相容性，它们通常伴随着较差的膜选择性。在此，为了在分子水平上维持膜选择性，一种金属有机骨架 (MOF)，即 UiO-66-NH ₂在参与界面聚合之前，纳米颗粒已用不同量的单宁酸 (TA) 改性。由于改性 MOF 固有的多孔性和改进的亲水性，与传统的薄膜复合材料 (TFC) 和 UiO-66-NH 相比，所得的 TFN 膜（称为 TFN-TU）的透水性显着增加₂结合膜（TFN-U）。由于 TA 的桥接效应，TFN-TU 膜比 TFN-U 膜在苦咸水淡化方面表现出更高的脱盐率。此外，对于海水淡化，TFN-TU 膜比 TFC 膜具有更高的水通量和更高的脱盐率。这项工作可能为开发用于高水质脱盐的先进 TFN 膜提供见解和策略。