Brine separation with polyamide and polyimine thin film composite nanofiltration membranes obtained from biobased monomers

Thin film composite (TFC) membranes are state-of-the-art membranes that are widely applied in water treatment and seawater desalination. However, these membranes are typically prepared using petrochemical-based monomers and toxic solvents. Herein, plant-based monomers, namely priamine (PA), 2,5-furandicarboxaldehyde (FDA) are used to fabricate green PA–FDA TFC membranes via interfacial polymerization. Additionally, PA was also combined with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) to obtain PA–TMC TFC membranes. The reaction conditions were varied to investigate their effects on membrane morphology and performance. The resultant membranes exhibited smooth surfaces with an average roughness ranging from 15 to 30 nm, and increasing the monomer concentration increased the film thickness. The PA–TMC free-standing films had higher thicknesses (130–300 nm) than the PA–FDA films (36–122 nm). Furthermore, PA–TMC and PA–FDA films were hydrophobic due to the long aliphatic chains of PA. Moreover, PA–TMC membranes demonstrated a water permeance of ∼4 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ with 74% NaCl rejection, while PA–FDA membranes achieved better NaCl rejection (∼80%) but lower water permeance (0.3–4 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹). Applied in brine separation, the membranes demonstrated ∼90% divalent ion rejection and only 70% monovalent ion rejection. The proposed plant-based monomer combination provides a steppingstone toward green TFC membrane manufacturing for water treatment and desalination applications.