Rapid Desorption of Polyelectrolytes from Solid Surfaces Induced by Changes of Aqueous Chemistry

The short-term desorption induced by changes of aqueous chemistry of predeposited polyelectrolyte layers on solid surfaces was studied with reflectometry. The behavior of a strong polycation, polydiallydimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC), interacting with flat silica was investigated in detail. Results showed that partial desorption of preadsorbed polymer chains can be quickly triggered by changes in ionic strength and pH. When lowering these parameters in the PDADMAC–silica system, the increased lateral repulsive potential of neighboring chains drove the desorption of some of the polymer. Furthermore, layer desorption was favored when electrostatic interactions between a polyelectrolyte and the underlying surface became less attractive or switched to being repulsive. At the investigated timescales (<1 h), adlayer desorption was always partial and often incomplete. When initiating desorption from a condition of large adsorbed mass, desorption effects did not result in the plateau mass obtained by adsorption on a clean surface: an excess mass remained deposited. The results thus suggest that a relatively large energy barrier needs to be overcome to induce redissolution of predeposited chains and that this barrier may be a function of the number of polymer–surface interactions, which are in turn correlated with polymer molecular mass. These mechanisms have important implications for environmental processes and colloidal systems because they imply that, once adsorbed, polymeric chains may be redissolved but only to a limited degree at typical engineering timescales

New Facility for Membrane Fouling Investigations under Customizable Hydrodynamics: Validation and Preliminary Experiments with Pulsating Cross-Flow

Flux reduction induced by fouling is arguably the most adverse phenomenon in membrane-based separation systems. In this respect, many laboratory-scale filtration studies have shown that an appropriate use of hydrodynamic perturbations can improve both performance and durability of the membrane; however, to fully understand and hence appropriately exploit such effects, it is necessary to understand the underpinning flow processes. Towards this end, in this work we propose and validate a new module-scale laboratory facility with the aim of investigating, at very well-controlled flow conditions, how hydrodynamics affects mass transport phenomena at the feed/membrane interface. The proposed facility was designed to obtain a fully developed and uniform flow inside the test section and to impose both steady and pulsating flow conditions. The walls of the facility were made transparent to grant optical accessibility to the flow. In this paper, we discuss data coming from particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements and preliminary ultrafiltration tests both under steady and pulsating flow conditions. PIV data indicate that the proposed facility allows for excellent flow control from a purely hydrodynamic standpoint. Results from filtration tests provide promising results pointing towards pulsating flows as a viable technique to reduce fouling in membrane systems

Environmental sustainability of forward osmosis: The role of draw solute and its management.

Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising technology for the treatment of complex water and wastewater streams. Studies around FO are focusing on identifying potential applications and on overcoming its technological limitations. Another important aspect to be addressed is the environmental sustainability of FO. With the aim to partially fill this gap, this study presents a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a potential full-scale FO system. From a purely environmental standpoint, results suggest that significantly higher impacts would be associated with the deployment of thermolytic, organic, and fertilizer-based draw solutes, compared to more accessible inorganic compounds. The influent draw osmotic pressure in FO influences the design of the real-scale filtration system and in turn its environmental sustainability. In systems combining FO with a pressure-driven membrane process to recover the draw solute (reverse osmosis or nanofiltration), the environmental sustainability is governed by a trade-off between the energy required by the regeneration step and the draw solution management. With the deployment of environmentally sustainable draw solutes (e.g., NaCl, Na2SO4), the impacts of the FO-based coupled system are almost completely associated to the energy required to run the downstream recovery step. On the contrary, the management of the draw solution, i.e., its replacement and the required additions due to potential losses during the filtration cycles, plays a dominant role in the environmental burdens associated with FO-based systems exploiting less sustainable draw solute, such as MgCl2

Desalination of brackish groundwater and reuse of wastewater by forward osmosis coupled with nanofiltration for draw solution recovery

Abstract This study evaluates a treatment system centered on forward osmosis (FO) to extract high-quality water from real brackish groundwater and wastewater. The groundwater had salinity of 4 g/L, while the wastewater sample consisted of a secondary effluent. These feed solutions were treated first in a FO step, achieving a recovery of >60%. Subsequently, the diluted draw solutions were subject to a nanofiltration (NF) step to regenerate their original osmotic pressure and to simultaneously collect a final permeate product. Magnesium chloride and sodium sulfate were both suitable draw solutes for this application. MgCl2 had a larger specific reverse salt flux and induced a more pronounced fouling-related flux decline with groundwater samples. Na2SO4 was re-concentrated with a higher permeability NF membrane but may require the use of anti-scalants. The average fluxes obtained in high-recovery batch FO were between 5 and 11 L m−2h−1 with an initial bulk draw osmotic pressure in the range of 12–15 bar. Relatively low flux decline was observed in fouling experiments with both samples, while physical cleaning proved promising to recover the related loss in productivity. The final product waters were all of very high quality, suggesting the potential of this coupled system for water reuse and desalination. Some challenges related to the relatively low water flux in the FO step, as well as the loss of draw solutes and the gradual change in composition of the draw solution, need further analysis to establish the technical and economic feasibility of the system

Nanofiltration-assisted removal of acriflavine from aqueous solutions

Nanofiltration membranes were modified using Layer-by-Layer method. Different number of polycation/graphene oxide bilayers was deposited on the surface of the membranes. The structure of modified membranes was studied under optical microscope. The structure of graphene oxide was investigated using transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The experimental properties of modified membranes were determined using acriflavine solution in a bench scale setup. The retention of the membranes increased with an increasing number of bilayers to a point, similar to a saturation curve. The flux of the permeate decreased slightly, converging to a lower limit with increasing number of bilayers. The results show that nanofiltration membranes can be effectively modified using polycation/colloid particle bilayers

Process optimization of osmotic membrane distillation for the extraction of valuable resources from water streams

The rising demand for sustainable wastewater management and high-value resource recovery is pressing industries involved in, e.g., textiles, metals, and food production, to adopt energy-efficient and flexible liquid separation methods. The current techniques often fall short in achieving zero liquid discharge and enhancing socio-economic growth sustainably. Osmotic membrane distillation (OMD) has emerged as a low-temperature separation process designed to concentrate valuable elements and substances in dilute feed streams. The efficacy of OMD hinges on the solvent’s migration from the feed to the draw stream through a hydrophobic membrane, driven by the vapor pressure difference induced by both temperature and concentration gradients. However, the intricate interplay of heat and mass processes steering this mechanism is not yet fully comprehended or accurately modeled. In this research, we conducted a combined theoretical and experimental study to explore the capabilities and thermodynamic limitations of OMD. Under diverse operating conditions, the experimental campaign aimed to corroborate our theoretical assertions. We derived a novel equation to govern water flux based on foundational principles and introduced a streamlined version for more straightforward application. Our findings spotlight complex transport-limiting and self-adjusting mechanisms linked with temperature and concentration polarization phenomena. Compared with traditional methods like membrane distillation and osmotic dilution, which are driven by solely temperature or concentration gradients, OMD may provide improved and flexible performance in target applications. For instance, we show that OMD—if properly optimized—can achieve water vapor fluxes 50% higher than osmotic dilution. Notably, OMD operation at reduced feed temperatures can lead to energy savings ranging between 5 and 95%, owing to the use of highly concentrated draw solutions. This study underscores the potential of OMD in real-world applications, such as concentrating lithium in wastewater streams. By enhancing our fundamental understanding of OMD’s potential and constraints, we aim to broaden its adoption as a pivotal liquid separation tool, with focus on sustainable resource recovery

Solvent-stable UV-cured acrylic polysulfone membranes

A systematic investigation of the effect of the presence of acrylate resin on polysulfone-based membranes was performed with the aim of obtaining chemically stable crosslinked membranes without affecting their flux performances. The membranes were prepared via UV curing of the polymer dope followed by a non-solvent-induced phase separation process. Two different acrylic monomers were investigated and their amount was varied in the polymer dope, to study the influence of concentration on final results. High crosslinking degrees were achieved by irradiating the solution for one minute. Morphological investigations of the active surface and of the cross-sections of the fabricated membranes showed that the typical porosity of ultrafiltration membranes was obtained starting from solutions containing a low amount of crosslinker (10 wt%), which is consistent with the water flux values which were comparable to that of the pristine polysulfone membrane. High concentrations of crosslinker resin in the initial polymer dope produced denser membranes with lower permeability. High rejection of 27 nm particles (>90%) was measured for all samples having measurable flux. The addition of the crosslinker allowed one to obtain stability in various solvents without affecting the flux and rejection performance of the porous membranes. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.Peer Reviewe