Formation of a thick aromatic polyamide membrane by interfacial polymerisation

Thin film composite membranes (TFCs) consist of a thin film of polymer that is responsible for high salt rejection. This layer is made via interfacial polymerisation of two monomers 1,3 phenylene diamine and trimesoyl chloride, with the membrane reported to reach a self limiting thickness of less than 200 nm. This paper reports for the first time the formation of thick free-standing aromatic polyamide membranes of greater than 50 μm in thickness via the well-known interfacial polymerisation technique. The membrane thickness as a function of polymerisation time and monomer concentration was investigated. The polyamide layer formed through interfacial polymerisation is not necessarily homogeneous, but can indeed feature areas of porosity. A mechanism for such a porous structure is proposed and discussed. The ability to form thick free-standing polyamide membranes allows bulk polymer properties to be evaluated for the first time. In particular, in this work we are able to measure the zeta potential of the membrane surface that usually faces the membrane support. We show that this surface is still negatively charged for all pH values above 4.0