Volume 49 Number 3

Enhancing the desalination performance of thin-film composite membranes by suppressing interfacial defects between UiO-66-2NH₂ and the polyamide matrix

Qiang Huang^a, Hao Sun^a,*, Hongshuai Yu^b, Pengwei Zhang^a, Jinquan Wang^a, Yazhou Kong^a, Fei Liu^a,?

 
ABSTRACT:      Incorporating nanoporous materials into polyamide rejection layers is a well-established strategy for enhancing the permeability of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. However, interfacial defects between the nanomaterials and the polyamide matrix often undermine membrane selectivity. In this study, UiO-66-2NH2 nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated into TFC membranes. The optimized integration of UiO-66-2NH2 into the polyamide layer significantly increased the membrane permeability to 3.40 l/m2/h/bar, while simultaneously improving the salt rejection from 97.6% to 99.0%. The increased permeability of TFC membranes could be attributed to the abundant nanochannels present within the embedded UiO-66-2NH2 particles. Additionally, the high-density amine groups on UiO-66-2NH2 surface reacted with trimesoyl chloride (TMC), effectively suppressing defect formation at the interface.

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* Corresponding author, E-mail: huangongsun_hao@163.com, liufei@hyit.edu.cn

Received 28 Jan 2026, Accepted 19 Jun 2026