Syntheses of chlorine resistant reverse osmosis membranes

Most of thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes include amide linkages, which are susceptible to chlorine attack resulting in N-chloro derivatives. This study examined a new method based on post-treatment of reverse osmosis membrane with various silane derivatives to improve chlorine resistance. The silane derivatives contain one alkyl group and three alkoxy groups such as trifluoromethyltrimethoxysilane, 3-aminopropylmethoxydiethoxysilane and 3, 3, 3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane. Compared to commercial membranes, silane derivatives coated membranes showed significantly enhanced chlorine durability.