{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T12:48:53Z","timestamp":1788526133436,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]],"date-time":"2025-03-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740960000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Nature Science Foundation of Shaanxi","award":["2023-JC-ZD-26"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023-JC-ZD-26"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Membranes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The large-scale application of aromatic polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for reverse osmosis has provided an effective way to address worldwide water scarcity. However, the water permeability and salt rejection capabilities of the PA membrane remain limited. In this work, cyclic micropores based on crown ether were introduced into the PA layer using a layer-by-layer interfacial polymerization (LbL-IP) method. After interfacial polymerization between m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC), the di(aminobenzo)-18-crown-6 (DAB18C6) solution in methanol was poured on the membrane to react with the residual TMC. The cyclic micropores of DAB18C6 provided the membrane with rapid water transport channels and improved ion rejection due to its hydrophilicity and size sieving effect. The membranes were characterized by FTIR, XPS, SEM, and AFM. Compared to unmodified membranes, the water contact angle decreased from 54.1\u00b0 to 31.6\u00b0 indicating better hydrophilicity. Moreover, the crown ether-modified membrane exhibited both higher permeability and enhanced rejection performance. The permeability of the crown ether-modified membrane was more than ten times higher than unmodified membranes with a rejection above 95% for Na2SO4, MgSO4, MgCl2, and NaCl solution. These results highlight the potential of this straightforward surface grafting strategy and the modified membranes for advanced water treatment technologies, particularly in addressing seawater desalination challenges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/membranes15030077","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]],"date-time":"2025-03-03T10:15:03Z","timestamp":1740996903000},"page":"77","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Preparation of Crown Ether-Containing Polyamide Membranes via Interfacial Polymerization and Their Desalination Performance"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8421-778X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liqing","family":"Xing","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Department of Chemical Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liping","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Department of Chemical Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5924-9490","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiaxin","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Department of Chemical Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinping","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Department of Chemical Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunhai","family":"Yi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Department of Chemical Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1080\/07900629948916","article-title":"Water Scarcity in the Twenty-First Century","volume":"15","author":"Seckler","year":"1999","journal-title":"Int. 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