Advanced RO element obtained by new membrane and channel material

Introduction Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are regarded as the most powerful tools to solve global water problems, since they make it possible to supply high-grade water with low cost and low energy consumption. RO membrane technologies have made great progress in last 50 years. However, still more improvement of membrane performance is required to achieve lower energy consumption and higher water quality in seawater, brackish water, and tap water desalination field. Toray has made efforts to elucidate dynamics of water molecules during water permeation process using neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulation. Utilizing these results, new RO membranes with high water permeability was developed based on advanced molecular design of cross-linked polyamide pore structure. In addition, Toray created a new permeate channel material of element with low water flow resistance that enhanced water flux of the new RO membrane element. Material and Method Polyamide RO membranes were fabricated by interfacial polymerization of aromatic amines and carboxylic acid chlorides. Protuberance and pore structures of the polyamide RO membranes were analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. (Figure 1) Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract