Probing the internal structure of reverse osmosis membranes by positron annihilation spectroscopy: Gaining more insight into the transport of water and small solutes

Journal of Membrane Science

Volumn 486, Issue , 2015, Pages 106-118

  Fujioka, Takahiro ^a   Oshima, Nagayasu ^b   Suzuki, Ryoichi ^b   Price, William E ^a   Nghiem, Long D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG   (Australia)

^b NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AIST   (Japan)

Author keywords

Boron; Free volume hole; N nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA); Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS); Reverse osmosis (RO)

Indexed keywords

BORIC ACID; BORON; COMPOSITE MEMBRANES; ELECTRONS; FREE VOLUME; MEMBRANES; MOLECULAR DYNAMICS; POSITRON ANNIHILATION SPECTROSCOPY; POSITRONS; REVERSE OSMOSIS;

DOPPLER BROADENING OF ANNIHILATION RADIATIONS; LABORATORY STUDIES; MEMBRANE PROPERTIES; MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS; N-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE; POSITRON ANNIHILATION LIFETIME SPECTROSCOPY; POSITRON ANNIHILATION SPECTROSCOPY (PAS); THIN FILM COMPOSITE MEMBRANES;

OSMOSIS MEMBRANES;

BORIC ACID;

MEMBRANE STRUCTURE; MEMBRANE TRANSPORT; POSITRON ANNIHILATION LIFETIME SPECTROSCOPY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVERSE OSMOSIS; REVIEW; SKIN; SOLUTE; WATER TRANSPORT;

EID: 84926510121     PISSN: 03767388     EISSN: 18733123     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2015.02.007     Document Type: Review

References (88)

1. Loeb S., Sourirajan S. Sea water demineralization by means of an osmotic membrane. Saline Water Conversion II 1963, 117-132. American Chemical Society, Washington. R.F. Gould (Ed.).
2. J.E. Cadotte, L.T. Rozelle, In-situ Formed Condensation Polymers for Reverse Osmosis Membranes, OSW PB-Report, No 927.
3. Lee K.P., Arnot T.C., Mattia D. A review of reverse osmosis membrane materials for desalination-development to date and future potential. J. Membr. Sci. 2011, 370:1-22.
4. Shannon M.A., Bohn P.W., Elimelech M., Georgiadis J.G., Marinas B.J., Mayes A.M. Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades. Nature 2008, 452:301-310.
5. Elimelech M. The global challenge for adequate and safe water. J. Water Supply: Res. Technol. Aqua 2006, 55:3-10.
6. Van der Bruggen B., Vandecasteele C., Van Gestel T., Doyen W., Leysen R. A review of pressure-driven membrane processes in wastewater treatment and drinking water production. Environ. Prog. 2003, 22:46-56.
7. Daufin G., Escudier J.P., Carrère H., Bérot S., Fillaudeau L., Decloux M. Recent and emerging applications of membrane processes in the food and dairy industry. Food Bioprod. Process 2001, 79:89-102.
8. Kurihara M., Hanakawa M. Mega-ton water system: Japanese national research and development project on seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation. Desalination 2013, 308:131-137.
9. USEPA, Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), (1993). http://www.epa.gov/iris/.
10. Plumlee M.H., López-Mesas M., Heidlberger A., Ishida K.P., Reinhard M. N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) removal by reverse osmosis and UV treatment and analysis via LC-MS/MS. Water Res. 2008, 42:347-355.
11. Farré M.J., Döderer K., Hearn L., Poussade Y., Keller J., Gernjak W. Understanding the operational parameters affecting NDMA formation at advanced water treatment plants. J. Hazard. Mater. 2011, 185:1575-1581.
12. Tu K.L., Nghiem L.D., Chivas A.R. Boron removal by reverse osmosis membranes in seawater desalination applications. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2010, 75:87-101.
13. Shimazu A., Goto H., Shintani T., Hirose M., Suzuki R., Kobayashi Y. Vacancy profile in reverse osmosis membranes studied by positron annihilation lifetime measurements and molecular dynamics simulations. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 2013, 443:012050.
14. Wijmans J.G., Baker R.W. The solution-diffusion model: a review. J. Membr. Sci. 1995, 107:1-21.
15. Kosutic K., Kastelan-Kunst L., Kunst B. Porosity of some commercial reverse osmosis and nanofiltration polyamide thin-film composite membranes. J. Membr. Sci. 2000, 168:101-108.
16. Kiso Y., Muroshige K., Oguchi T., Hirose M., Ohara T., Shintani T. Pore radius estimation based on organic solute molecular shape and effects of pressure on pore radius for a reverse osmosis membrane. J. Membr. Sci. 2011, 369:290-298.
17. Jean Y.C., Mallon P.E., Schrader D.M. Principles and Applications of Positron and Positronium Chemistry 2003, World Scientific, Singapore.
18. Tung K.L., Chang K.S., Wu T.T., Lin N.J., Lee K.R., Lai J.Y. Recent advances in the characterization of membrane morphology. Curr. Opin. Chem. Eng. 2014, 4:121-127.
19. Shintani T., Shimazu A., Yahagi S., Matsuyama H. Characterization of methyl-substituted polyamides used for reverse osmosis membranes by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and MD simulation. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2009, 113:1757-1762.
20. Fujioka T., Oshima N., Suzuki R., Khan S.J., Roux A., Poussade Y., Drewes J.E., Nghiem L.D. Rejection of small and uncharged chemicals of emerging concern by reverse osmosis membranes: the role of free volume space within the active skin layer. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2013, 116:426-432.
21. Henmi M., Fusaoka Y., Tomioka H., Kurihara M. High performance RO membranes for desalination and wastewater reclamation and their operation results. Water Sci. Technol. 2010, 62:2134-2140.
22. Chen Z., Ito K., Yanagishita H., Oshima N., Suzuki R., Kobayashi Y. Correlation study between free-volume holes and molecular separations of composite membranes for reverse osmosis processes by means of variable-energy positron annihilation techniques. J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115:18055-18060.
23. Kim S.H., Kwak S.Y., Suzuki T. Positron annihilation spectroscopic evidence to demonstrate the flux-enhancement mechanism in morphology-controlled Thin-Film-Composite (TFC) membrane. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2005, 39:1764-1770.
24. Lee J., Doherty C.M., Hill A.J., Kentish S.E. Water vapor sorption and free volume in the aromatic polyamide layer of reverse osmosis membranes. J. Membr. Sci. 2013, 425-426:217-226.
25. Hagihara H., Ito K., Oshima N., Yabuuchi A., Suda H., Yanagishita H. Depth profiling of the free-volume holes in cellulose triacetate hollow-fiber membranes for reverse osmosis by means of variable-energy positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. Desalination 2014, 344:86-89.
26. Larson R.E., Cadotte J.E., Petersen R.J. The FT-30 seawater reverse osmosis membrane-element test results. Desalination 1981, 38:473-483.
27. Uemura T., Kotera K., Henmi M., Tomioka H. Membrane technology in seawater desalination: history, recent developments and future prospects. Desalin. Water Treat. 2011, 33:283-288.
28. Freger V. Swelling and morphology of the skin layer of polyamide composite membranes: an atomic force microscopy study. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2004, 38:3168-3175.
29. Freger V. Nanoscale heterogeneity of polyamide membranes formed by interfacial polymerization. Langmuir 2003, 19:4791-4797.
30. Tang C.Y., Kwon Y.N., Leckie J.O. Probing the nano- and micro-scales of reverse osmosis membranes-a comprehensive characterization of physiochemical properties of uncoated and coated membranes by XPS, TEM, ATR-FTIR, and streaming potential measurements. J. Membr. Sci. 2007, 287:146-156.
31. Baker R.W. Membrane Technology and Applications, 3rd edition 2012, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester.
32. Tang C.Y., Kwon Y.-N., Leckie J.O. Effect of membrane chemistry and coating layer on physiochemical properties of thin film composite polyamide RO and NF membranes: I. FTIR and XPS characterization of polyamide and coating layer chemistry. Desalination 2009, 242:149-167.
33. Tang C.Y., Kwon Y.-N., Leckie J.O. Effect of membrane chemistry and coating layer on physiochemical properties of thin film composite polyamide RO and NF membranes: II. Membrane physiochemical properties and their dependence on polyamide and coating layers. Desalination 2009, 242:168-182.
34. Li D., Wang H. Recent developments in reverse osmosis desalination membranes. J. Mater. Chem. 2010, 20:4551-4566.
35. Ghosh A.K., Jeong B.H., Huang X., Hoek E.M.V. Impacts of reaction and curing conditions on polyamide composite reverse osmosis membrane properties. J. Membr. Sci. 2008, 311:34-45.
36. Wang J., Dlamini D.S., Mishra A.K., Pendergast M.T.M., Wong M.C.Y., Mamba B.B., Freger V., Verliefde A.R.D., Hoek E.M.V. A critical review of transport through osmotic membranes. J. Membr. Sci. 2014, 454:516-537.
37. Jean Y.C., Van Horn J.D., Hung W.S., Lee K.R. Perspective of positron annihilation spectroscopy in polymers. Macromolecules 2013, 46:7133-7145.
38. Yan H., Miao X., Xu J., Pan G., Zhang Y., Shi Y., Guo M., Liu Y. The porous structure of the fully-aromatic polyamide film in reverse osmosis membranes. J. Membr. Sci. 2015, 475:504-510.
39. Mi B., Coronell O., Mariñas B.J., Watanabe F., Cahill D.G., Petrov I. Physico-chemical characterization of NF/RO membrane active layers by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. J. Membr. Sci. 2006, 282:71-81.
40. Gerard R., Hachisuka H., Hirose M. New membrane developments expanding the horizon for the application of reverse osmosis technology. Desalination 1998, 119:47-55.
41. Matsuura T., Sourirajan S. Reverse osmosis transport through capillary pores under the influence of surface forces. Ind. Eng. Chem. Proc. Des. Dev. 1981, 20:273-282.
42. Spiegler K.S., Kedem O. Thermodynamics of hyperfiltration (reverse osmosis): criteria for efficient membranes. Desalination 1966, 1:311-326.
43. Kedem O., Katchalsky A. Permeability of composite membranes. Part 1. Electric current, volume flow and flow of solute through membranes. Trans. Faraday Soc. 1963, 59:1918-1930.
44. Okada T., Matsuura T. A new transport model for pervaporation. J. Membr. Sci. 1991, 59:133-149.
45. Lonsdale H.K., Merten U., Riley R.L. Transport properties of cellulose acetate osmotic membranes. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 1965, 9:1341-1362.
46. Soltanieh M., Gill W.N. Review of reverse osmosis membranes and transport models. Chem. Eng. Commun. 1981, 12:279-363.
47. Geise G.M., Paul D.R., Freeman B.D. Fundamental water and salt transport properties of polymeric materials. Prog. Polym. Sci. 2014, 39:1-42.
48. Paul D.R. Reformulation of the solution-diffusion theory of reverse osmosis. J. Membr. Sci. 2004, 241:371-386.
49. Fujioka T., Khan S.J., Poussade Y., Drewes J.E., Nghiem L.D. N-nitrosamine removal by reverse osmosis for indirect potable water reuse-a critical review based on observations from laboratory-, pilot- and full-scale studies. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2012, 98:503-515.
50. Farré M.J., Keller J., Holling N., Poussade Y., Gernjak W. Occurrence of N-nitrosodimethylamine precursors in wastewater treatment plant effluent and their fate during ultrafiltration-reverse osmosis membrane treatment. Water Sci. Technol. 2011, 63:605-612.
51. Bellona C., Drewes J.E., Xu P., Amy G. Factors affecting the rejection of organic solutes during NF/RO treatment-a literature review. Water Res. 2004, 38:2795-2809.
52. Tu K.L., Fujioka T., Khan S.J., Poussade Y., Roux A., Drewes J.E., Chivas A.R., Nghiem L.D. Boron as a surrogate for N-nitrosodimethylamine rejection by reverse osmosis membranes in potable water reuse applications. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47:6425-6430.
53. Fujioka T., Khan S.J., McDonald J.A., Roux A., Poussade Y., Drewes J.E., Nghiem L.D. N-nitrosamine rejection by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes: the importance of membrane characteristics. Desalination 2013, 316:67-75.
54. Fujioka T., Nghiem L.D., Khan S.J., McDonald J.A., Poussade Y., Drewes J.E. Effects of feed solution characteristics on the rejection of N-nitrosamines by reverse osmosis membranes. J. Membr. Sci. 2012, 409-410:66-74.
55. Fujioka T., Khan S.J., McDonald J.A., Nghiem L.D. Nanofiltration of trace organic chemicals: a comparison between ceramic and polymeric membranes. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2014, 136:258-264.
56. Van der Bruggen B., Verliefde A., Braeken L., Cornelissen E.R., Moons K., Verberk J.Q.J.C., van Dijk H.J.C., Amy G. Assessment of a semi-quantitative method for estimation of the rejection of organic compounds in aqueous solution in nanofiltration. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 2006, 81:1166-1176.
57. Eldrup M., Lightbody D., Sherwood J.N. The temperature dependence of positron lifetimes in solid pivalic acid. Chem. Phys. 1981, 63:51-58.
58. Tao S.J. Positronium annihilation in molecular substances. J. Chem. Phys. 1972, 56:5499-5510.
59. Coleman P. Positron Beams and their Applications 2000, World Scientific, Singapore.
60. Hirata K., Kobayashi Y., Ujihira Y. Diffusion coefficients of positronium in amorphous polymers. J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 1996, 92:985-988.
61. Suzuki R., Kobayashi Y., Mikado T., Ohgaki H., Chiwaki M., Yamazaki T., Tomimasu T. Slow positron pulsing system for variable energy positron lifetime spectroscopy. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 1991, 30:532-534.
62. Hung W.-S., De Guzman M., Huang S.-H., Lee K.-R., Jean Y.C., Lai J.-Y. Characterizing free volumes and layer structures in asymmetric thin-film polymeric membranes in the wet condition using the variable monoenergy slow positron beam. Macromolecules 2010, 43:6127-6134.
63. Boussu K., De Baerdemaeker J., Dauwe C., Weber M., Lynn K.G., Depla D., Aldea S., Vankelecom I.F.J., Vandecasteele C., Van der Bruggen B. Physico-chemical characterization of nanofiltration membranes. ChemPhys Chem 2007, 8:370-379.
64. Tung K.-L., Jean Y.-C., Nanda D., Lee K.-R., Hung W.-S., Lo C.-H., Lai J.-Y. Characterization of multilayer nanofiltration membranes using positron annihilation spectroscopy. J. Membr. Sci. 2009, 343:147-156.
65. Nanda D., Tung K.-L., Hung W.-S., Lo C.-H., Jean Y.-C., Lee K.-R., Hu C.-C., Lai J.-Y. Characterization of fouled nanofiltration membranes using positron annihilation spectroscopy. J. Membr. Sci. 2011, 382:124-134.
66. Huang Y.-H., Chao W.-C., Hung W.-S., An Q.-F., Chang K.-S., Huang S.-H., Tung K.-L., Lee K.-R., Lai J.-Y. Investigation of fine-structure of polyamide thin-film composite membrane under swelling effect by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation. J. Membr. Sci. 2012, 417-418:201-209.
67. Huang S.-H., Hung W.-S., Liaw D.-J., Tsai H.-A., Jiang G.J., Lee K.-R., Lai J.-Y. Positron annihilation study on thin-film composite pervaporation membranes: correlation between polyamide fine structure and different interfacial polymerization conditions. Polymer 2010, 51:1370-1376.
68. Albo J., Hagiwara H., Yanagishita H., Ito K., Tsuru T. Structural characterization of thin-film polyamide reverse osmosis membranes. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53:1442-1451.
69. T. Fujioka, N. Oshima, R. Suzuki, M. Higgins, W.E. Price, R.K. Henderson, L.D. Nghiem, Effect of heat treatment on fouling resistance and the rejection of small and neutral solutes by reverse osmosis membranes, Water Sci. Technol. Water Supply. , in press. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/ws.2014.2135.
70. Ito K., Chen Z., Zhou W., Oshima N., Yanagishita H., Suzuki R., Kobayashi Y. Subnanoscopic holes in composite membranes for desalination elucidated by energy-tunable positron annihilation. Jpn. J. Poly. Sci. Technol. 2012, 69:443-447.
71. Al-Amoudi A. Effect of chemical cleaning agents on virgin nanofiltration membrane as characterized by positron annihilation spectroscopy. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2013, 110:51-56.
72. Gu J.-E., Lee S., Stafford C.M., Lee J.S., Choi W., Kim B.-Y., Baek K.-Y., Chan E.P., Chung J.Y., Bang J., Lee J.-H. Molecular layer-by-layer assembled thin-film composite membranes for water desalination. Adv. Mater. 2013, 25:4778-4782.
73. Chen H., Hung W.-S., Lo C.-H., Huang S.-H., Cheng M.-L., Liu G., Lee K.-R., Lai J.-Y., Sun Y.-M., Hu C.-C., Suzuki R., Ohdaira T., Oshima N., Jean Y.C. Free-Volume depth profile of polymeric membranes studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy: layer structure from interfacial polymerization. Macromolecules 2007, 40:7542-7557.
74. T. Sasaki, H. Tomioka, K. Nakatsuji, Composite semipermeable membrane, production process thereof, and element, fluid separation equipment and treatment method for boron-containing water using the same, in: U.S. Patent (Ed.) United States Patent, Toray Industries, Inc., USA, 2010.
75. Geise G.M., Park H.B., Sagle A.C., Freeman B.D., McGrath J.E. Water permeability and water/salt selectivity tradeoff in polymers for desalination. J. Membr. Sci. 2011, 369:130-138.
76. Ju H., Sagle A.C., Freeman B.D., Mardel J.I., Hill A.J. Characterization of sodium chloride and water transport in crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) hydrogels. J. Membr. Sci. 2010, 358:131-141.
77. Bernstein R., Belfer S., Freger V. Toward improved boron removal in RO by membrane modification: feasibility and challenges. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 45:3613-3620.
78. Bandini S., Bruni L. 2.04-Transport phenomena in nanofiltration membranes. Comprehensive Membrane Science and Engineering 2010, 67-89. Elsevier, Oxford. E. Drioli, L. Giorno (Eds.).
79. Kiso Y., Muroshige K., Oguchi T., Yamada T., Hhirose M., Ohara T., Shintani T. Effect of molecular shape on rejection of uncharged organic compounds by nanofiltration membranes and on calculated pore radii. J. Membr. Sci. 2010, 358:101-113.
80. Jean Y.C., Hung W.-S., Lo C.-H., Chen H., Liu G., Chakka L., Cheng M.-L., Nanda D., Tung K.-L., Huang S.-H., Lee K.-R., Lai J.-Y., Sun Y.-M., Hu C.-C., Yu C.-C. Applications of positron annihilation spectroscopy to polymeric membranes. Desalination 2008, 234:89-98.
81. Shukla A., Hoffmann L., Manuel A.A., Peter M. Melt 4.0 a program for positron lifetime analysis. Mater. Sci. Forum 1997, 255-257:233-237.
82. An Q.-F., Ji Y.-L., Hung W.-S., Lee K.-R., Gao C.-J. AMOC positron annihilation study of zwitterionic nanofiltration membranes: correlation between fine structure and ultrahigh permeability. Macromolecules 2013, 46:2228-2234.
83. Chan E.P., Young A.P., Lee J.-H., Chung J.Y., Stafford C.M. Swelling of ultrathin crosslinked polyamide water desalination membranes. J. Polym. Sci. B: Polym. Phys. 2013, 51:385-391.
84. Oshima N., O'Rourke B.E., Kuroda R., Suzuki R., Watanabe H., Kubota S., Tenjinbayashi K., Uedono A., Hayashizaki N. Slow positron beam apparatus for surface and subsurface analysis of samples in air. Appl. Phys. Express 2011, 4:066701.
85. Zhou W., Chen Z., Oshima N., Ito K., O'Rourke B.E., Kuroda R., Suzuki R., Yanagishita H., Tsutsui T., Uedono A., Hayashizaki N. In-situ characterization of free-volume holes in polymer thin films under controlled humidity conditions with an atmospheric positron probe microanalyzer. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2012, 101:14102-14104.
86. Harder E., Walters D.E., Bodnar Y.D., Faibish R.S., Roux B.t. Molecular dynamics study of a polymeric reverse osmosis membrane. J. Phys. Chem. B 2009, 113:10177-10182.
87. Hughes Z.E., Gale J.D. Molecular dynamics simulations of the interactions of potential foulant molecules and a reverse osmosis membrane. J. Mater. Chem. 2012, 22:175-184.
88. Chang K.-S., Huang Y.-H., Lee K.-R., Tung K.-L. Free volume and polymeric structure analyses of aromatic polyamide membranes: a molecular simulation and experimental study. J. Membr. Sci. 2010, 354:93-100.