(196t) Development and Analysis of a Thin Film Nanocomposite Membrane: Resistance to Chlorine

The degradation of polyamide nanofiltration media by chlorine decreases the efficiency and life time an expensive membrane which can be used in conjunction with reverse osmosis as one stage in the purification of produced water. Adding Montmorillonite nanoparticles may increase the chlorine-resistance of thin film composite polyamide membrane. However, understanding the degradation and the protection requires quantitative analysis of a membrane which is microns thin and grown in-situ on a polysulfone support. Thermogravimetric analysis can be used as an indirect method to detect the degradation state of the polyamide. Early controls have been analyzed using nonisothermal degradation models to determine kinetic parameters for both control polyamide composed of m-phenylenediamine and trimesoyl chloride and the nanocomposite. Future work will involve using TGA kinetic parameters as a correlative measure of the effects of chlorination on the membrane.