• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.368-377
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• 2018

The n-nitrilotris(methylene) phosphonic acid (NTPA) potassium salt was synthesized as a draw solute for forward osmosis. NTPA-4K, NTPA-5K and NTPA-6K were synthesized by varying the content of KOH added to NTPA and confirmed by $^1H$-NMR and $^{13}C$-NMR. The osmotic pressure, viscosity, water flux and reverse salt flux were measured to characterize the draw solute. In the forward osmosis process when distilled water was used as a feed solution and 0.5 M of NTPA-4K, NTPA-5K and NTPA-6K were used as a draw solution, the water flux was 35.8, 38.8 and 42.2 LMH, the reverse salt flux was 5.4, 6.9 and 7.4 gMH, respectively. It was confirmed that the water flux was lower than the conventional NaCl draw solution, but the reverse salt flux was much lower. In order to recover the diluted draw solution, nanofiltration was conducted. The results showed that the draw solute could be retained by above 90%.