Development of a Chlorine Resistant Reverse Osmosis Membrane and Porous Membrane Supports

摘要

A major drawback in the use of polyamide membranes in reverse osmosis has been the susceptibility of the polyamide membrane to chlorine attack. It had been hypothesized that elimination of the secondary amines in the membrane barrier layer would provide chlorine resistance to polyamide type membranes. Accordingly, polyepichlorohydrin (secondary diamines) was synthesized and interfacially reacted with isophtaloyl chloride to form membrane layers. Although the secondary amine was eliminated, the expected chlorine resistance was not obtained. Limited data indicate that chlorine resistance was obtained with an asymmetric polyimide membrane. To date, composite membranes have almost exclusively used polysulfone as a porous support material. The following additional membrane supports were developed: polycarbonate, polyphenylsulfone, polyimide, polyvinylidenefluoride, and polyphenylquinoxaline. The development of these porous membrane supports is outlined.