Development of anti-biofouling feed spacers to improve performance of reverse osmosis modules

Rice, Douglas; Barrios, Ana C.; Xiao, Zhiwei; Bogler, Anne; Bar‐Zeev, Edo; Perreault, François

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2018.08.068

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…While previous work on GO-functionalized polyamide membranes has shown that GO coatings may exert dual biocidal/anti-adhesive functions, 20 recent studies have shown that GO nanosheets increase the adhesiveness of inert Si substrates 22 and weakly adhesive polymeric spacer substrates. 23 Here we explain these seemingly contradictory results. Lastly, we elucidate the molecular determinants of adhesion by analyzing the interactions of bacterial adhesin molecules (proteinaceous structures such as pili and outer membrane proteins 50,51 ) with the various substrates.…”

Section: Interfacial Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…While graphene oxide (GO) has shown strong biocidal activity, 12,13,19,69 there have been conflicting reports as to whether GO can mitigate bacterial adhesion, 22,23 the first step of biofilm formation and biofouling. This paper used single-cell force spectroscopy to show that edge-tethering GO nanosheets to polyĲacrylic acid) (PAA) brushes produces GO coatings (formed on polyethersulfone (PES) substrates) characterized by low P. fluorescens adhesion forces.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results highlight the importance of interfacial properties (e.g., surface roughness, hydrophilicity) in the formulation of GO-based antibacterial interfaces for environmental applications, pointing out possible directions for future study. In the context of water treatment systems, it is necessary to characterize bioadhesion to GO interfaces (such as those in membranes, 19,20 spacers, 23 and adsorbents 7 ), under realistic hydrodynamic conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, recent studies have observed that GO functionalization of inorganic and polymeric substrates can increase their bio-adhesiveness. 22,23 The possible adverse modification of interfacial properties challenges the notion of GO films as anti-biofouling coatings. This question needs to be addressed since the effectiveness of GO as a biocidal nanomaterial will be compromised if it increases the adhesiveness of a given substrate vis-à-vis bacterial cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Do graphene oxide nanostructured coatings mitigate bacterial adhesion?

Wuolo-Journey

BinAhmed

Linna

et al. 2019

Environ. Sci.: Nano

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Section: Interfacial Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do graphene oxide nanostructured coatings mitigate bacterial adhesion?

Wuolo-Journey

BinAhmed

Linna

et al. 2019

Environ. Sci.: Nano

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show abstract

“…Surface modification and coating of membranes can improve fouling resistance against various types of foulants [109,110,111,112]. Anti-biofouling of feed spacers can reduce the fouling effects without affecting the membrane permeability [113]. Membrane scaling is another phenomenon that hinders mass transport through the membrane due to the formation of a thin layer of supersaturated salts on the membrane surface [102].…”

Section: Membrane Fouling and Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling and simulation of the dual stage pressure retarded osmosis systems

Soltani

Struchtrup

2019

Desalination

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Utilization of renewable energy sources, as an approach to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, have been globally popular in the last few decades. Among renewable energy sources, pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) has been scrutinized by scientists since the mid 70's. However, even today, the existing river-sea PRO systems can only marginally meet the generally approved criterion of 5 W/m 2 power density, a threshold for an economically feasible PRO system. As an approach to increase the performance of PRO systems, multi-staging of PRO modules are investigated. A mathematical model of the scaled up PRO process is proposed with consideration for internal and external concentration polarization, reverse salt flux, and spatial variations along the membrane. A thermodynamic model is also developed with consideration for entropy generation and losses in the process. It predicts the percentile of each work loss source compared to the net work in the system. Several configurations of dual stage PRO system are presented and compared to single stage PRO. The comparison is based on three proposed target functions of power density (PD), specific energy (SE), and work per drawn freshwater (W drawn). Applied hydraulic pressures and flow rates of draw and feed solutions are optimized for maximizing the target functions. The results indicate that overall performance of the system could be improved by up to 8 % with a dual stage PRO in the case of SE. The system iv performance is not improved by depressurizing the draw solution before the second module in cases of SE and W drawn. The thermodynamic analysis demonstrate the contribution of each work loss and justify the reason of diminishing the net work over the losses. The effect of membrane area and membrane characteristics on the SE target function is also investigated. The distribution of membrane area in each module depends on the selected configuration and inlet draw solution. In the dual stage systems, the SE value increases up to 14% by improving the membrane characteristics. Reducing the salt rejection coefficient (B) is the most effective membrane characteristic in our configurations. Replacing seawater with RO brine in draw solution results in a significant improvement in SE values.

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Coral‐tentacle‐inspired antifouling membrane spacer: A natural solution for biofouling prevention

Huang,

Lu,

Chen

et al. 2024

AIChE Journal

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Fouling of membrane spacers leads to increased pressure drop and reduced lifespan of membrane modules. Cleaning these fouled spacers is challenging due to strong foulant‐membrane spacer interactions. To address this issue, we introduce a novel spacer, PP‐N‐F, inspired by coral's antifouling properties. This spacer features on‐demand antifouling capabilities through a sequential growth process of functional polymer brushes on its surface. It not only possesses lower surface free energy characteristics than polypropylene spacers, but also exhibits controllable morphological changes similar to swaying coral tentacles. Temperature control strengthens the interfacial hydration layer, mitigating the trade‐off between anti‐adsorption and hydrophobicity of fluorinated surface. The temperature‐responsive surface changes enhance foulant desorption efficiency. Compared to a commercial spacer, PP‐N‐F shows an 89.3% reduction in foulant adsorption and a 61.7% decrease in pressure drop increment after 48 h cross‐flow filtration experiments. This work provides valuable insights for advanced anti‐fouling membrane module design.

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Development of anti-biofouling feed spacers to improve performance of reverse osmosis modules

Cited by 31 publications

References 63 publications

Do graphene oxide nanostructured coatings mitigate bacterial adhesion?

Do graphene oxide nanostructured coatings mitigate bacterial adhesion?

Modeling and simulation of the dual stage pressure retarded osmosis systems

Coral‐tentacle‐inspired antifouling membrane spacer: A natural solution for biofouling prevention

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