Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 824, Taiwan, ROC.
Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 824, Taiwan, ROC.
Environ Res. 2023 Dec 15;239(Pt 1):117346. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117346. Epub 2023 Oct 9.
A commercialized and widely applied nanofiltration membrane, NF90, was in-situ modified through a surface grafting modification method by using 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt and initiators. The effects of water electrical conductivity (EC) and fouling types on membrane separation efficiency were examined before and after membrane modification. Results reveal that both the pristine membrane (PTM) and surface grafting modification membrane (SGMM) had a declining permeate flux and salt (NaCl) removal efficiency but an increasing trend of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) removal with increasing water EC from 250 to 10,000 μs cm. However, SGMM exhibited a slightly declining permeate flux but 13%-17% and 1%-42% higher rejection of salt and PPCPs, respectively, compared with PTM, due to electrostatic repulsion and size exclusion provided by the grafted polymer. After sodium alginate (SA) and humic acid (HA) fouling, SGMM had 17%-26% and 16%-32% higher salt rejection and 1%-12% and 1%-51% greater PPCP removal, respectively, compared with PTM due to the additional steric barrier layer contributed by the foulants. The successful grafting and increasing hydrophilicity of the SGMM were confirmed by contact angle analysis, which was beneficial for mitigating membrane fouling. Overall, the proposed in-situ surface grafting modification of NF90 can considerably mitigate organic and biological fouling while raising the rejection of salt and PPCPs at different background water EC, which is beneficial for practical applications in producing clean and high quality water for consumers.
商业化且广泛应用的纳滤膜 NF90 通过表面接枝改性方法，使用 3-磺丙基甲基丙烯酸钾盐和引发剂原位改性。在膜改性前后，考察了水电导率（EC）和污染类型对膜分离效率的影响。结果表明，原始膜（PTM）和表面接枝改性膜（SGMM）的渗透通量和盐（NaCl）去除率均随水 EC 从 250 增加到 10,000 μs/cm 而降低，但对药物和个人护理产品（PPCPs）的去除率呈上升趋势。然而，与 PTM 相比，SGMM 的渗透通量略有下降，但盐和 PPCPs 的去除率分别提高了 13%-17%和 1%-42%，这是由于接枝聚合物提供的静电排斥和尺寸排阻作用。在海藻酸钠（SA）和腐殖酸（HA）污染后，SGMM 的盐去除率分别提高了 17%-26%和 16%-32%，PPCP 的去除率分别提高了 1%-12%和 1%-51%，这是由于污染物提供了额外的空间位阻层。通过接触角分析证实了 SGMM 的成功接枝和亲水性增加，这有利于减轻膜污染。总的来说，NF90 的原位表面接枝改性可以在不同背景水 EC 下显著减轻有机和生物污染，同时提高盐和 PPCPs 的去除率，这有利于为消费者生产清洁和高质量的水的实际应用。
