Composite thin-film membrane of an assembled activated carbon thin film with autoself-healing and high-efficiency water desalination

Abstract

Activated carbon thin film (ACTF) with a 3D laminated structure and single corn thickness shows the advantage of purifying water by stacking in a continuous membrane. However, it is necessary to find a suitable method for improving the separation quality of ACTF composite. The full-scale development process has also resulted in membrane damage, and consequentially, it has needed to be solved where it will be public economic problems. In this paper, an assembled ACTF thin-film composite membrane (CM) designated to succeed in the general performance of desalination in addition to nanocellulose filler will enhance the prepared membrane’s self-healing properties. The membrane was characterized by SEM, mechanical testing, FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis, AFM and wettability testing. The mechanical properties of the thin-film nanocellulose membrane (TFC@ACNCE membrane) were systematically investigated for their effects on the ACTF and nanocellulose content. The inserted ACTF thin-film CM gifted the channels using properties of the molecular sieving and, simultaneously, effectively extended the channel space of the membrane. Mechanical tests show that ACTF nanofillers are also enhanced by the addition of bending power, flexural modulus and Shore D composite membrane hardness. The improved damping, thermal and mechanical properties of the composite membrane may be due to the uniform distribution, by the three-dimensional interconnected porous network structure and by its strong interfacial adhesion at the nanofiller–matrix interface, of graphene sheets in the supporting matrix of polysulfones. The selective cellulose layer can adsorb water to allow the reaction of the cross-linking reaction autoself-healing. The prepared CM of ACTF and cellulose nanoparticles displays enhanced water flux (160 L m–2 h–1), which increased 34.5% than the blank membrane’s flux of water. That membrane shows a 99% rejection ratio that improved its anti-fouling efficiency. Moreover, the healed composite TFC@ACNCE membrane can desalinate seawater with enhanced flux stability at high pressures over blank membranes used to desalinate brackish water through a facile autoself-healing process.