Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane uniformly embedded with sulfonic Noria cages at high loading for elevated perm-selectivity and antifouling properties

Chunhui Zhang; Jiahe  Sun; Xinyu Zhang; Bing Xu; Yuanqing  Guo; Ming Xie; Jianguo Zhu; Jingtao Xu; Feiyong  Chen

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2025.119419

Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane uniformly embedded with sulfonic Noria cages at high loading for elevated perm-selectivity and antifouling properties

Chunhui Zhang
, Jiahe Sun
, Xinyu Zhang
, Bing Xu
, Yuanqing Guo
, Ming Xie
, Jianguo Zhu
, Jingtao Xu
, Feiyong Chen

Shandong Jianzhu University
Xi'an Railway Vocational & Technical Institute
Construction Industry Development Service Center of Shizhong District

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (SciVal)

Abstract

Water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling are the major challenges faced by nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, a thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with excellent separation and antifouling performances was fabricated by uniformly doping S-Noria (sulfonic Noria, a macrocyclic molecule) in polyamide layer with high loading capacity. S-Noria synthesized by sulfonating Noria with taurine has smaller nanoparticle size of ~5.9 nm and better water dispersion compared with Noria. Therefore, the water permeability of the optimal S-TFN0.75 membrane can be increased to 2.2 times and 3.4 times that of the Noria-TFN and control TFC membranes, respectively, while maintaining a comparable Na2SO4 rejection of ~98 %. During the dynamic organic fouling tests, the S-TFN0.75 membrane with higher surface hydrophilicity and surface capacity of sulfonic groups showed milder flux decay and better flux recovery than the control TFC membrane. In addition, the S-TFN0.75 membranes could more effectively alleviate the membrane fouling exacerbated by “Ca2+ bridging effect”. In conclusion, this study provides a reliable method for the fabrication of TFN membrane with a high load of S-Noria uniformly dispersed in the polyamide layer, solving the bottleneck problems of water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling.

Original language	English
Article number	119419
Journal	Desalination
Volume	617
Early online date	16 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2025.119419
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2026

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Funding

This work was supported by the Shandong Top Talent Special Foundation (No. 0031504), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22008162), the Royal Society International Exchange (IEC\NSFC\242089), the Science and Technology Project of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2024JC-YBQN-0393), and the Introduction and Cultivation Plan for Young Innovative Talents of Colleges and Universities by the Education Department of Shandong Province.

Funders	Funder number
Department of Education of Shandong Province
Introduction and Cultivation Plan for Young Innovative Talents of Colleges and Universities
Shandong Top Talent Special Foundation	0031504
National Natural Science Foundation of China	22008162
Royal Society	IEC\NSFC\242089
Key Science and Technology Program of Shaanxi Province	2024JC-YBQN-0393

Keywords

Antifouling
Nanofiltration
Perm-selectivity
S-Noria
Thin film nanocomposite

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering
General Materials Science
Water Science and Technology
Mechanical Engineering

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10.1016/j.desal.2025.119419Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane uniformly embedded with sulfonic Noria cages at high loading for elevated perm-selectivity and antifouling properties",

abstract = "Water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling are the major challenges faced by nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, a thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with excellent separation and antifouling performances was fabricated by uniformly doping S-Noria (sulfonic Noria, a macrocyclic molecule) in polyamide layer with high loading capacity. S-Noria synthesized by sulfonating Noria with taurine has smaller nanoparticle size of \textasciitilde{}5.9 nm and better water dispersion compared with Noria. Therefore, the water permeability of the optimal S-TFN0.75 membrane can be increased to 2.2 times and 3.4 times that of the Noria-TFN and control TFC membranes, respectively, while maintaining a comparable Na2SO4 rejection of \textasciitilde{}98 \%. During the dynamic organic fouling tests, the S-TFN0.75 membrane with higher surface hydrophilicity and surface capacity of sulfonic groups showed milder flux decay and better flux recovery than the control TFC membrane. In addition, the S-TFN0.75 membranes could more effectively alleviate the membrane fouling exacerbated by “Ca2+ bridging effect”. In conclusion, this study provides a reliable method for the fabrication of TFN membrane with a high load of S-Noria uniformly dispersed in the polyamide layer, solving the bottleneck problems of water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling.",

keywords = "Antifouling, Nanofiltration, Perm-selectivity, S-Noria, Thin film nanocomposite",

author = "Chunhui Zhang and Jiahe Sun and Xinyu Zhang and Bing Xu and Yuanqing Guo and Ming Xie and Jianguo Zhu and Jingtao Xu and Feiyong Chen",

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T1 - Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane uniformly embedded with sulfonic Noria cages at high loading for elevated perm-selectivity and antifouling properties

AU - Zhang, Chunhui

AU - Sun, Jiahe

AU - Zhang, Xinyu

AU - Xu, Bing

AU - Guo, Yuanqing

AU - Xie, Ming

AU - Zhu, Jianguo

AU - Xu, Jingtao

AU - Chen, Feiyong

PY - 2026/1/1

Y1 - 2026/1/1

N2 - Water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling are the major challenges faced by nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, a thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with excellent separation and antifouling performances was fabricated by uniformly doping S-Noria (sulfonic Noria, a macrocyclic molecule) in polyamide layer with high loading capacity. S-Noria synthesized by sulfonating Noria with taurine has smaller nanoparticle size of ~5.9 nm and better water dispersion compared with Noria. Therefore, the water permeability of the optimal S-TFN0.75 membrane can be increased to 2.2 times and 3.4 times that of the Noria-TFN and control TFC membranes, respectively, while maintaining a comparable Na2SO4 rejection of ~98 %. During the dynamic organic fouling tests, the S-TFN0.75 membrane with higher surface hydrophilicity and surface capacity of sulfonic groups showed milder flux decay and better flux recovery than the control TFC membrane. In addition, the S-TFN0.75 membranes could more effectively alleviate the membrane fouling exacerbated by “Ca2+ bridging effect”. In conclusion, this study provides a reliable method for the fabrication of TFN membrane with a high load of S-Noria uniformly dispersed in the polyamide layer, solving the bottleneck problems of water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling.

AB - Water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling are the major challenges faced by nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, a thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with excellent separation and antifouling performances was fabricated by uniformly doping S-Noria (sulfonic Noria, a macrocyclic molecule) in polyamide layer with high loading capacity. S-Noria synthesized by sulfonating Noria with taurine has smaller nanoparticle size of ~5.9 nm and better water dispersion compared with Noria. Therefore, the water permeability of the optimal S-TFN0.75 membrane can be increased to 2.2 times and 3.4 times that of the Noria-TFN and control TFC membranes, respectively, while maintaining a comparable Na2SO4 rejection of ~98 %. During the dynamic organic fouling tests, the S-TFN0.75 membrane with higher surface hydrophilicity and surface capacity of sulfonic groups showed milder flux decay and better flux recovery than the control TFC membrane. In addition, the S-TFN0.75 membranes could more effectively alleviate the membrane fouling exacerbated by “Ca2+ bridging effect”. In conclusion, this study provides a reliable method for the fabrication of TFN membrane with a high load of S-Noria uniformly dispersed in the polyamide layer, solving the bottleneck problems of water perm-selectivity and membrane fouling.

KW - Antifouling

KW - Nanofiltration

KW - Perm-selectivity

KW - S-Noria

KW - Thin film nanocomposite

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016201377

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M3 - Article

SN - 0011-9164

VL - 617

JO - Desalination

JF - Desalination

M1 - 119419

ER -

Thin film nanocomposite nanofiltration membrane uniformly embedded with sulfonic Noria cages at high loading for elevated perm-selectivity and antifouling properties

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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