Polyamide Composite Membranes on Electrospun Nanofibers for Osmotic Enrichment of Ionic Liquids from Aqueous Solutions

Yu-Jie Shang; Bian-Bian Guo; Hao-Nan Li; Yong-Jin Li; Jing Yang

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3294-x

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Polyamide Composite Membranes on Electrospun Nanofibers for Osmotic Enrichment of Ionic Liquids from Aqueous Solutions

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-07-14

- Polyamide Composite Membranes on Electrospun Nanofibers for Osmotic Enrichment of Ionic Liquids from Aqueous Solutions
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 5, Pages: 819-827(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry and Material Technology of Ministry of Education, and Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Material Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
  b.MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, and Key Laboratory of Adsorption and Separation Materials & Technologies of Zhejiang Province, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
- Author bio：
  
  yongjin-li@hznu.edu.cn (Y.J. L.)
  jing_yang@hznu.edu.cn (J.Y.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3294-x
  CLC：
- Received：11 November 2024，
  
  Revised：2024-12-23，
  
  Accepted：11 January 2025，
  
  Online First：13 March 2025，
  
  Published：30 April 2025
- Accepted：
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Shang, Y. J.; Guo, B. B.; Li, H. N.; Li, Y. J.; Yang, J. Polyamide composite membranes on electrospun nanofibers for osmotic enrichment of ionic liquids from aqueous solutions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 819–827

Yu-Jie Shang, Bian-Bian Guo, Hao-Nan Li, et al. Polyamide Composite Membranes on Electrospun Nanofibers for Osmotic Enrichment of Ionic Liquids from Aqueous Solutions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(5): 819-827.
Shang, Y. J.; Guo, B. B.; Li, H. N.; Li, Y. J.; Yang, J. Polyamide composite membranes on electrospun nanofibers for osmotic enrichment of ionic liquids from aqueous solutions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 819–827 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3294-x.

Yu-Jie Shang, Bian-Bian Guo, Hao-Nan Li, et al. Polyamide Composite Membranes on Electrospun Nanofibers for Osmotic Enrichment of Ionic Liquids from Aqueous Solutions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(5): 819-827. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3294-x.

摘要

We use interfacial polymerization method to prepare thin-film composite membranes consisting of polyamide skin layer and electrospun nanofibrous substrate with tunable water permeability and IL selectivity for osmotic enrichment of ILs through FO process. Imidazolium ILs are ultimately enriched with a 100-fold increase in concentration from their dilute aqueous solutions.

Abstract

The recovery of ionic liquids (ILs) has attracted growing attention as an indispensable process in “green” industrial applications. Forward osmosis (FO) has proven to be a sustainable method for concentrating the very dilute aqueous solutions of ILs at ambient temperature

in which semi-permeable membranes play a vital role in determining the recovery efficiency. Herein

we use interfacial polymerization method to prepare thin-film composite membranes consisting of polyamide skin layer and electrospun nanofibrous substrate with tunable water permeability and IL selectivity for osmotic enrichment of imidazolium ILs from their dilute aqueous solutions through FO process. The resulting FO membrane shows a compact polyamide layer with a thickness of 30–200 nm

guranteeing a high selectivity to ILs and water. Meanwhile

the nanofibrous substrate with large and interconnect pores as well as low tortuosity

providing mechanical and permeable support for the composite membranes. IL structure influences the osmotic pressure difference as well as the interactions with polyamide layer of the membrane and thus determines the whole concentration process. First

the alkyl chain growth augments the osmosis pressure difference between the ILs solution and draw solution

resulting in an enhancement in driving force of water osmosis and IL enrichment. Moreover

alkyl length aggravates external concentration polarization caused by the enhanced adsorption of ILs onto the skin layer

via

electrostatic and alkyl-

interactions. Meanwhile

such adsorbed ILs further enhance the IL retention but decrease the reverse salt diffusion. Therefore

imidazolium ILs with varied alkyl lengths are ultimately enriched with a 100-fold increase in concentration from their dilute aqueous solutions with high IL/NaCl rejection an

d low IL loss. Remarkably

the final concentration of IL with longest alkyl length reaches the highest (6.4 mol·L

–1

). This work provides the insights in respect to material preparation and process amelioration for IL recovery with high scalability at mild conditions.

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