Vishwakarma Vinita, Kandasamy Jaya, Vigneswaran Saravanamuthu
Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Galgotias University, Greater Noida 203201, India.
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Aug 17;13(8):736. doi: 10.3390/membranes13080736.
Membrane biofouling is the consequence of the deposition of microorganisms on polymer membrane surfaces. Polymeric membranes have garnered more attention for filtering and purifying water because of their ease of handling, low cost, effortless surface modification, and mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties. The sizes of the pores in the membranes enable micro- and nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis. Commonly used polymers for water filter membranes are polyvinyl chloride (PVA), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyamide (PA), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyethersulfone (PES), polyimide (PI), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinyl alcohol (PA), poly (methacrylic acid) (PMAA), polyaniline nanoparticles (PANI), poly (arylene ether ketone) (PAEK), polyvinylidene fluoride polysulfone (PSF), poly (ether imide) (PEI), etc. However, these polymer membranes are often susceptible to biofouling because of inorganic, organic, and microbial fouling, which deteriorates the membranes and minimizes their lives, and increases operating costs. Biofouling infection on polymer membranes is responsible for many chronic diseases in humans. This contamination cannot be eliminated by periodic pre- or post-treatment processes using biocides and other chemicals. For this reason, it is imperative to modify polymer membranes by surface treatments to enhance their efficiency and longevity. The main objective of this manuscript is to discuss application-oriented approaches to control biofouling on polymer membranes using various surface treatment methods, including nanomaterials and fouling characterizations utilizing advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques.
膜生物污染是微生物在聚合物膜表面沉积的结果。聚合物膜因其易于处理、成本低、表面改性容易以及具有机械、化学和热性能，在水的过滤和净化方面受到了更多关注。膜的孔径大小可实现微滤、纳滤、超滤和反渗透。用于水过滤膜的常用聚合物有聚氯乙烯（PVA）、聚偏二氟乙烯（PVDF）、聚酰胺（PA）、聚乙二醇（PEG）、聚醚砜（PES）、聚酰亚胺（PI）、聚丙烯腈（PAN）、聚乙烯醇（PA）、聚（甲基丙烯酸）（PMAA）、聚苯胺纳米颗粒（PANI）、聚（亚芳基醚酮）（PAEK）、聚偏二氟乙烯聚砜（PSF）、聚（醚酰亚胺）（PEI）等。然而，这些聚合物膜由于无机、有机和微生物污染，常常容易受到生物污染，这会使膜性能恶化并缩短其使用寿命，还会增加运营成本。聚合物膜上的生物污染感染是人类许多慢性疾病的原因。这种污染不能通过使用杀菌剂和其他化学物质进行定期的预处理或后处理过程来消除。因此，必须通过表面处理对聚合物膜进行改性，以提高其效率和使用寿命。本手稿的主要目的是讨论使用各种表面处理方法来控制聚合物膜上生物污染的面向应用的方法，包括使用先进的显微镜和光谱技术进行纳米材料和污染表征。
