Journal
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Volume 22, Issue 27, Pages 15658-15663Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d0cp01842b
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Funding
- Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences of the US Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship
- PROMOS scholarship by the Freie Universitat Berlin
- ALS Doctoral Fellowship in Residence
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program
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Reverse osmosis using aromatic polyamide membranes is currently the most important technology for seawater desalination. The performance of reverse osmosis membranes is highly dependent on the interplay of their surface chemical groups with water and water contaminants. In order to better understand the underlying mechanisms of these membranes, we study ultrathin polyamide films that chemically resemble reverse osmosis membranes, using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This technique can identify the functional groups at the membrane-water interface and allows monitoring of small shifts in the electron binding energy that indicate interaction with water. We observe deprotonation of free acid groups and formation of a 'water complex' with nitrogen groups in the polymer upon exposure of the membrane to water vapour. The chemical changes are reversed when water is removed from the membrane. While the correlation between functional groups and water uptake is an established one, this experiment serves to understand the nature of their chemical interaction, and opens up possibilities for tailoring future materials to specific requirements.
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