Thin-Film Composite Membranes Interlayered with Amphiphilic MoS 2 Nanosheets via Controllable Interfacial Polymerization for Enhanced Desalination Performance.

Polyamide (PA)-based nanofiltration (NF) membranes have demonstrated extensive applications for a sustainable water-energy-environment nexus. A rational control of interfacial polymerization (IP) is highly efficacious to enhance NF separation performance yet remains a technical challenge. Herein, we proposed a regulation strategy of constructing amphiphilic molybdenum disulfide/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide interlayer atop the Kevlar hydrogel substrate. The amphiphilic nanosheet interlayered NF membrane exhibited a crumpled PA surface with an elevated cross-linking degree of 76.9%, leading to an excellent water permeance (16.8 L m -2 h -1 bar -1 ) and an impressive Na 2 SO 4 rejection (99.1%). Meanwhile, the selectivity coefficient of Na 2 SO 4 /NaCl of the optimized TFC membrane reached 91, surpassing those of the recently reported NF membranes. Moreover, the optimized membrane exhibited a desirable rejection of over 90% against Mn 2+ and Cu 2+ in actual textile wastewater. Importantly, the underlying NF membrane formation mechanism was elucidated via both experiments and molecular simulations. The synchronous control of mass and heat transfer of IP process offers a new methodology for the state-of-the-art membrane fabrication, which opens more avenues in softening of brackish water and purification of industrial wastewater containing heavy metal ions.