Synthesis and seawater desalination of molecular sieving zeolitic imidazolate framework membranes

• Dense ZIF membranes are prepared through bio-inspired polydopamine modification. • ZIF membranes are developed for the first time for seawater desalination. • The ZIF membranes show high water flux and ion rejection for seawater desalination.

In conclusion, in the present work we have successfully developed stable ZIF membranes for seawater desalination. Attributing to the small aperture size as well as the high stability in seawater, the developed ZIF membranes display high separation performances for seawater desalination as demonstrated by both experimental and simulation studies. At 25, 50, 75 and 100 °C, the water fluxes through the ZIF-8 membrane are 5.8, 8.1, 10.8, and 13.5 kg/(m2·h), respectively, with ion rejections of over 99.8%, which are superior to conventional zeolite membranes. This high separation performances combined with high stability suggest that the developed ZIF membranes are promising candidates for seawater desalination by ionic sieving. Acknowledgments This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51402320), External Cooperation Program of BIC, Chinese Academy of Science (174433KYSB2013005), Ningbo Science and Technology Innovation Team (2014B81004), Ningbo Municipal Natural Science Foundation (2015A610046), and A*star of Singapore (R-279-000-431-305). Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx. doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2016.02.005.