Effect of CQDs on permeability and hydrophilicity of PAN TFN membranes

To investigate the effect of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) nanoparticles on the permeability andhydrophilicity of poly acrylonitrilepolyacrylonitrile (PAN) thin thin-film nanocomposite (TFN)membranes, in this paper, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were synthesized by hydrothermal methodand embedded as dispersed phase in the active poly-amide (PA) layer of the TFN thin-filmnanocomposite membrane by interfacial polymerization. The CQDs nanoparticles were analyzed byHR-TEM, FTIR, UV Reflectance and UV Spectroscopy tests. Also, fabricated membranes werecharacterized by contact angle and permeability tests. HR-TEM results showed that the synthesizednanoparticles are ۱ to ۲ nanometers in size and spherical. The presence of hydroxyl and carbonylfunctional groups on the surface of the nanoparticles, which was determined by FTIR analysis,confirmed the hydrophilicity of CQDs nanoparticles. The results of the contact angle test showed thatwith increasing the concentration of CQDs nanoparticles, the contact angle of the water droplet withthe membrane surface decreased, which in the TFN-CQDs۱۰% wt sample compared to the neat thinfilmcomposite (TFC) sample, the contact angle decreased by ۹ degrees. Also, The the permeabilityvalue increased from ۲۱.۲۵ L/m۲.h LMH for the TFC sample to ۴۸.۷۵ L/m۲.h LMH for the TFNCQDs۱۰% wt sample. Therefore, CQDs nanoparticles had a positive effect on the permeability andhydrophilicity of fabricated TFN membranes.