Thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes typically used for drinking water treatment applications are susceptible to fouling by natural organic matter (NOM) which adversely affects the permeation and separation efficacy.
Beeswax-colophony blend is mainly used as a sealant mixture for preservation applications. The beeswax itself, however, has had a long way in history taking part in conservation processes including mummification. In this research, this blend was used as a protective coating for drinking water distribution tanks. Initially, a layer with 400 μm thickness was applied on a sand blasted mild steel plate. The long-term electrochemical behavior of the coating was investigated by open circuit potential (OCP) and electrochemical microbiological characteristics of the coating, microbial and chemical examinations were performed on drinking water samples that had been in contact with the coating. Furthermore, its behavior in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASBR) in a wastewater treatment plant was investigated using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. Regarding the consistency of experimental results, it was concluded that this proposed recyclable blend could be considered as a novel green organic coating and also a good corrosion barrier even in aggressive environments.
OPEN ACCESSMetals 2015, 5 1646
Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contaminated wastewaters present major public health risks given the PFAS thermo-chemical stability and its demonstrated adverse impacts on aquatic life, extended to the entire food chain. To date, remediation of PFAS-contaminated wastewaters have been mainly undertaken with poorly cost-effective strategies, involving multi-step processes. Advanced separation systems enabling the selective capture and concentration of PFAS must be developed. In this work, the potential of nanofiltration (NF) membranes to reject short chain length PFAS, potassium nonafluoro-1-butanesulfonate (C 4 F 9 SO 3 K), is demonstrated with both bare polymeric and amine functionalized-boron nitride BN(NH 2 ) nanosheet-decorated membranes. The BN(NH 2 )-decorated membranes exhibited almost 1.04 times higher permeation upon C 4 F 9 SO 3 K filtration compared to the bare poly(piperazine amide) (PPA) membranes (53 versus 26 L m −2 h −1 ), while maintaining very high C 4 F 9 SO 3 K rejection levels above 93%. A commercial membrane exhibited similar permeation to BN(NH 2 )-decorated membrane, but only retained ∼65% of the C 4 F 9 SO 3 K. The improved filtration performance of the BN(NH 2 )-decorated membrane was rationalized based on advanced characterization results to its enhanced wettability and negative charge density, resulting in weak interactions between the C 4 F 9 SO 3 K and BN(NH 2 ) nanosheets. This communication demonstrates the role and potential of fine surface modifications of NF membranes to support improved separation performance towards PFAS removal.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.