Hydroxyl Functionalized Polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole as Substrates for Forward Osmosis Membranes

Hydroxyl functionalized polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole (PTA POD) copolymers have been synthesized and cast as promising highly thermally Stable) chemically resistant, and antiorganic/biological fouling porous substrates for the fabrication of thin-film composite::(TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes. The roles of PTA/POD ratios in the membrane substrate, TFC layers, and FO membrane performance have been investigated: This study demonstrates that the substrate fabricated from the Copolymer containing 40 mol % PTA is Optimal for the TFC membranes Compared to the POD-TEC membrane, the 40 mol PTA-TFC Membrane exhibits a remarkable decrease in structural parameter (S) of more than 33 times. In addition the 40 mol%PTA-TFC Membrane is Characterized by high water fluxes of 24.9 LMHt and 472 LMH using 1 M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed under FO and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) modes, respectively: Compared to a polysulfone (PSU) supported TFC-FO membrane under similar fabrication conditions, the 40% mol PTA-TFC membrane Shows better FO performance and enhanced antifouling properties on the support,(lower protein binding propensity and improved bacterial inhibition): Moreover, the performance of the,40 mol % PTA supported TFC-FO membrane can be improved to 37.5 LMH (FO mode)/78.4 LMH (PRO mode) and potentially higher by optimizing the support morphology, the TFC formation, and the post treatment process. Hence, the use of newly developed hydroxyl functionalized polytriazole-co-polyoxadiazole copolymers trio open up a new class of material for FO processes.