Enhancing the Efficiency of Membrane Processes for Water Treatment.

Pressure-driven membrane processes, i [...

Removal of Trace Organic Contaminants by Parallel Operation of Reverse Osmosis and Granular Activated Carbon for Drinking Water Treatment.

In response to increasingly stringent restrictions for drinking water quality, a parallel operation of two common technologies, low-pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) and activated carbon filtration (ACF), was investigated in a comprehensive five-month pilot study for the removal of 32 typical trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) from Rhine bank filtrates employing a semi- technical plant. TrOCs have been divided into three groups: polyfluorinated aliphatic compounds; pharmaceuticals, pesticides and metabolites; in addition to volatiles, nitrosamines and aminopolycarboxylic acids, which were also examined. The net pressure behavior, normalized salt passage and rejection of TrOCs by LPRO were investigated and compared with ACF operation.

Performance of Layer-by-Layer-Modified Multibore Ultrafiltration Capillary Membranes for Salt Retention and Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes.

Polyether sulfone Multibore ultrafiltration membranes were modified using polyelectrolyte multilayers via the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique in order to increase their rejection capabilities towards salts and antibiotic resistance genes. The modified capillary membranes were characterized to exhibit a molecular weight cut-off (at 90% rejection) of 384 Da. The zeta-potential at pH 7 was -40 mV.

Tailored CNTs Buckypaper Membranes for the Removal of Humic Acid and Separation of Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a robust material and proven as a promising candidate for a wide range of electronic, optoelectronic and environmental applications. In this work, two different methods were utilized for the preparation of CNTs exhibiting different aspect ratios via chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The as-prepared CNTs were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Nadsorption isotherms, thermogravimetric analysis and Raman spectroscopy in order to investigate their morphological and structural properties.

Influence of Surface Micro-Patterning and Hydrogel Coating on Colloidal Silica Fouling of Polyamide Thin-Film Composite Membranes.

In this work, colloidal fouling by silica particles of different sizes on micro-patterned pristine and poly-(-isopropylacylamide)-coated polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes was studied. The competing impacts of surface micro-patterning vs. surface chemical modification on enhancing antifouling propensity in unstirred dead-end filtration conditions were systematically explored.