TY - JOUR
T1 - Studying the role of common membrane surface functionalities on adsorption and cleaning of organic foulants using QCM-D
AU - Contreras, Alison E.
AU - Steiner, Zvi
AU - Miao, Jing
AU - Kasher, Roni
AU - Li, Qilin
PY - 2011/8/1
Y1 - 2011/8/1
N2 - Adsorption of organic foulants on nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane surfaces strongly affects subsequent fouling behavior by modifying the membrane surface. In this study, impact on organic foulant adsorption of specific chemistries including those in commercial thin-film composite membranes was investigated using self-assembled monolayers with seven different ending chemical functionalities (-CH3, -O-phenyl, -NH2, ethylene-glycol, -COOH, -CONH2, and -OH). Adsorption and cleaning of protein (bovine serum albumin) and polysaccharide (sodium alginate) model foulants in two solution conditions were measured using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, and were found to strongly depend on surface functionality. Alginate adsorption correlated with surface hydrophobicity as measured by water contact angle in air; however, adsorption of BSA on hydrophilic -COOH, -NH2, and -CONH2 surfaces was high and dominated by hydrogen bond formation and electrostatic attraction. Adsorption of both BSA and alginate was the fastest on -COOH, and adsorption on -NH2 and -CONH2 was difficult to remove by surfactant cleaning. BSA adsorption kinetics was shown to be markedly faster than that of alginate, suggesting its importance in the formation of the conditioning layer. Surface modification to render -OH or ethylene-glycol functionalities are expected to reduce membrane fouling.
AB - Adsorption of organic foulants on nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane surfaces strongly affects subsequent fouling behavior by modifying the membrane surface. In this study, impact on organic foulant adsorption of specific chemistries including those in commercial thin-film composite membranes was investigated using self-assembled monolayers with seven different ending chemical functionalities (-CH3, -O-phenyl, -NH2, ethylene-glycol, -COOH, -CONH2, and -OH). Adsorption and cleaning of protein (bovine serum albumin) and polysaccharide (sodium alginate) model foulants in two solution conditions were measured using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, and were found to strongly depend on surface functionality. Alginate adsorption correlated with surface hydrophobicity as measured by water contact angle in air; however, adsorption of BSA on hydrophilic -COOH, -NH2, and -CONH2 surfaces was high and dominated by hydrogen bond formation and electrostatic attraction. Adsorption of both BSA and alginate was the fastest on -COOH, and adsorption on -NH2 and -CONH2 was difficult to remove by surfactant cleaning. BSA adsorption kinetics was shown to be markedly faster than that of alginate, suggesting its importance in the formation of the conditioning layer. Surface modification to render -OH or ethylene-glycol functionalities are expected to reduce membrane fouling.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79960965252&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1021/es200570t
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/es200570t
M3 - Article
C2 - 21728383
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 45
SP - 6309
EP - 6315
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 15
ER -