Anionic/Non-ionic Surfactants in Aqueous Phase of Thin Film Composite Poly(Paraphenylene Terephthalamide) Nanofiltration Membranes

In this work, the Interfacial interfacial polymerization (IP) technique was employed using terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) and p-phenylenediamine (PPD), as reactant monomers, to prepare poly(paraphenylene terephthalamide) thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration on polyethersulphone (PES) support layer. The effects of six different anionic and non-ionic surfactants, in the aqueous phase on the morphology and performance of membranes were investigated. The performance of membranes was evaluated by the pure water flux (PWF) and the rejection of salt solutions. By addition of anionic surfactants, the morphology and performance were unaltered, while, in the presence of non-ionic surfactants, both morphology and performance were changed. Furthermore, the conditions for IP process were examined.