Membrane Research Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Environ Technol. 2021 Sep;42(23):3641-3650. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2020.1740329. Epub 2020 Mar 17.
The membrane fouling has always been a big issue for developing membrane applications. Surface morphology and roughness affect remarkably on the membrane tendency to fouling. In this study, a biomimetic technique, as a simple, cost-effective and time-saving method was employed to replicate Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium) leaf surface on the surface of a commercial thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane using polyethersulfone (PES) moulds. Morphology of surface and hydrophilicity of membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and water contact angle measurements. AFM and SEM photos of membrane surface declared that replication of nasturtium leaf improved the surface characteristics of membranes. The average roughness of membranes heated at 130°C and 150°C was 81.1 and 152.4 nm, respectively. The similar measurement was lower for the virgin membrane. Also, the roughened membranes showed higher hydrophilicity than the virgin membrane. In addition, the performance of the membrane was assessed by evaluating pure water flux (PWF) and flux recovery (FR) after the filtration of whey solution as a severe foulant for membranes. The findings exhibited that the replicated membranes had higher PWF and FR values, indicating the lower fouling tendency of modified membranes.
膜污染一直是膜应用发展的一个大问题。表面形貌和粗糙度对膜的污染倾向有显著影响。在这项研究中，采用一种仿生技术，作为一种简单、经济高效和省时的方法，使用聚醚砜（PES）模具在商业薄膜复合（TFC）反渗透（RO）膜的表面复制了马兜铃（旱金莲）叶的表面。通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、原子力显微镜（AFM）和水接触角测量研究了膜的表面形貌和亲水性。膜表面的 AFM 和 SEM 照片表明，旱金莲叶的复制改善了膜的表面特性。在 130°C 和 150°C 加热的膜的平均粗糙度分别为 81.1nm 和 152.4nm，而原始膜的粗糙度类似。此外，粗糙化的膜比原始膜表现出更高的亲水性。此外，通过评估乳清溶液过滤后纯水通量（PWF）和通量恢复（FR）来评估膜的性能，乳清溶液是一种严重污染膜的物质。研究结果表明，复制膜具有更高的 PWF 和 FR 值，表明改性膜的污染倾向较低。
