Surface mineralization of commercial thin-film composite polyamide membrane by depositing barium sulfate for improved reverse osmosis performance and antifouling property

• Surface mineralization was adopted to modify the TFC PA-RO membrane.
• BaSO4-based mineral coating was deposited by alternate soaking process.
• Membranes became more hydrophilic and negatively charged after mineralization.
• Surface mineralization could enhance water flux and salt rejection simultaneously.
• The mineralized membrane possessed improved fouling resistance to BSA.

In this study, a novel approach, namely surface mineralization, was adopted to modify the commercial thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane for improved membrane properties. BaSO4-based mineral coating was deposited on the surface of the PA-RO membrane by alternate soaking process (ASP) using aqueous solutions containing barium chloride (BaCl2) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), respectively. Membranes with different mineralization degrees were prepared by varying the number of ASP cycles. The mineralized TFC PA-RO membranes were characterized through FESEM microscopy, AFM analysis, EDX analysis, zeta-potential analysis, contact angle measurement and cross-flow permeation test. It was found that the mineral coating composed of BaSO4 particles distributed evenly on membrane surface. The surface of the membrane became more hydrophilic and negatively charged after mineralization and the membranes modified under certain conditions exhibited both increased water flux and salt rejection. Fouling experiments with bovine serum albumin (BSA) aqueous solution also demonstrated that the BaSO4-based surface coating layer could effectively alleviate the adsorption and deposition of foulant molecules on the membrane surface through enhancing electrostatic repulsion and lowing hydrophobic interaction between BSA molecules and membrane surface, and that the mineralized membrane possessed improved fouling resistance to BSA aqueous solution.