Effect of Organoclay on the Performance of Reverse Osmosis Membrane

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Cloisite15A (C15A) organoclay in the substrate layer on the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The substrate of the RO membranes was modified using different loading of C15A (ranging from 0.3 - 0.7 wt%) within polysulfone (PSf) substrate and the polyamide (PA) selective layer was formed on the top. Effect of the modified substrate layer on the water flux and salt rejection of the nanocomposite membrane was investigated. The chemical property, morphology, and topography of the membrane surface were characterized by ATR-FTIR, SEM, AFM and contact angle analyzer. The modified membranes showed significantly enhanced pure water flux and salt solution permeability by 60.5 % and 44.3 %, respectively, without sacrificing the salt rejection.