Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Sungdong-Gu, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea.
Research Engineering Development Inc., 488 Maesohol-ro, Namdong-gu, Incheon, 22223, Republic of Korea.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Jan;27(2):1677-1685. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-06653-2. Epub 2019 Nov 21.
Several methods, such as pretreatment, membrane surface modification, feed water chlorination, and chemical cleaning, have recently been applied to control biofouling on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes-with limited success. As an alternative, compounds that inhibit bacterial quorum sensing can be used to disrupt formation of bacterial colonies. In this study, anti-biofouling using vanillin, which is a natural substance among quorum sensing inhibitor compounds, was trialed, by modifying RO membrane surfaces with vanillin, at various concentrations. We then reviewed consequential changes to membrane surface characteristics and vanillin anti-biofouling properties. A long-term RO membrane simulator was used to analyze permeability, contact angle was measured for hydrophilicity evaluation, and membrane surface morphology was analyzed, through atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A quorum quenching effect was confirmed by utilizing Petrifilm to count bacteria on the surface of a modified membrane. As a result, the permeability of the surface modified membranes was slightly decreased compared to the pristine membrane, but the hydrophilicity was increased, and the number of colonies decreased remarkably, the membrane modified with 0.5 M vanillin outperforming that modified with 0.25 M vanillin.
近年来，已经有几种方法（如预处理、膜表面改性、进水氯化和化学清洗）被应用于反渗透（RO）膜的生物污染控制，但效果有限。作为一种替代方法，可以使用抑制细菌群体感应的化合物来破坏细菌菌落的形成。在这项研究中，通过用不同浓度的香草醛（一种群体感应抑制剂化合物中的天然物质）对 RO 膜表面进行改性，尝试使用香草醛进行抗生物污染。然后，我们研究了膜表面特性和香草醛抗生物污染性能的变化。通过使用长期 RO 膜模拟器分析渗透率、测量接触角以评估亲水性，并通过原子力显微镜和扫描电子显微镜分析膜表面形态，来验证群体感应的猝灭效果。通过利用 Petrifilm 计数改性膜表面的细菌，证实了群体感应的猝灭效果。结果表明，与原始膜相比，表面改性膜的渗透率略有降低，但亲水性增加，菌落数量显著减少，用 0.5 M 香草醛改性的膜比用 0.25 M 香草醛改性的膜性能更好。
