High Stability Thin Film Composite Reverse Osmosis Membranes

78436S State-of-the-art reverse osmosis membranes for water purification require significant improvements in chemical and mechanical stability in order to provide more economic and robust filtration performance. For example, the stability of current reverse osmosis membranes to strong oxidizers such as chlorine is very poor, resulting in high water pre-treatment costs and costly biofouling issues. Commercial membranes also are mechanically delicate, resulting in high attrition rates under intermittent use. As a result of these problems, membrane filtration costs remain approximately 100¿1000 times higher than conventional municipal water and waste-water treatment plants. This project will develop a new family of polymers, which have successfully demonstrated superior chlorine tolerance and mechanical stability, as thin film composite nanofiltration membranes for demanding reverse osmosis applications. The membrane pore structure will be strategically designed to provide the high salt rejection selectivity required for seawater desalination. In Phase I, a number of selected polymer constituents will be evaluated for their effect on membrane filtration performance such as salt rejection, water permeability, and stability. Thin film composite membranes will be fabricated by conventional methods and their performance will be evaluated using a cross flow filtration apparatus. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The proposed reverse osmosis membrane technology should provide more reliable and cost-efficient water purification and waste-water treatment. Membrane filtration is convenient and mobile, and the ability of reverse osmosis filtration to produce potable water from seawater for a modest price is unequaled. More robust membrane technologies also should benefit the chemical, petrochemical, semiconductor, food and dairy, pharmaceutical, and environmental remediation industries.