Synthesis of 2D nickel MOF nanosheets incorporated in thin film nanocomposite membranes for efficient reverse osmosis desalination

The recent development of fabricating thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes by utilizing two-dimensional (2D) metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) nanosheets has drawn significant attention due to their potential to enhance membrane performance. The current work focuses on synthesizing 2D nickel-based MOF nanosheets by exfoliating their 3D pillared layered MOF counterpart and then decorating the polyamide (PA) layer of the TFN membranes with different concentrations of the nanosheets. All modified TFN membranes exhibited improved pure water flux (> 50% for the TFN membrane with the highest nanosheet concentration, N-3 with 0.015% 2D-Ni MOF nanosheet) while retaining excellent salt rejection for both monovalent (NaCl) and divalent salts (> 95% for the TFN membrane with the highest nanosheet concentration) compared to the pristine MPD/TMC membrane. Remarkable anti-fouling properties against a 200 ppm bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein foulant, evidenced by its substantial water flux recovery ratio of 91.7% were observed by the modified TFN membranes. Therefore, this current approach of modifying the active PA layer of TFN membranes with 2D MOF nanosheets is quite effective and efficient for fabricating efficient desalination membranes.