Vapor deposition of blanket polymeric nanocoatings on porous substrates for the facile preparation of thin film composite membranes

•Polymeric thin films were deposited by iCVD method on nonwoven fabric supports.•iCVD allowed very high deposition rates at low substrate temperatures.•SEM analysis confirmed a defect-free blanket type coating over the membrane support.•The resultant TFC membrane was used for the selectively facilitated transport of Cr(VI).

In this study a thin film composite (TFC) membrane was fabricated using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) of poly(glycidyl methacrylate-diethylamino ethyl methacrylate) thin films on porous fabric membrane supports. iCVD allowed very high deposition rates (50 nm min−1) at low substrate temperatures. SEM analysis confirmed that iCVD forms a defect-free blanket type coating over the support surface. The resultant TFC membrane was used for the selectively facilitated transport of Cr(VI) with a maximum transport amount of 81.25% in aqueous medium. The transport efficiency of the TFC membrane was reproducible and it could be efficiently used in the long-term separation processes.