Highly-Efficient Sulfonated UiO-66(Zr) Optical Fiber for Rapid Detection of Trace Levels of Pb.

Lead detection for biological environments, aqueous resources, and medicinal compounds, rely mainly on either utilizing bulky lab equipment such as ICP-OES or ready-made sensors, which are based on colorimetry with some limitations including selectivity and low interference. Remote, rapid and efficient detection of heavy metals in aqueous solutions at ppm and sub-ppm levels have faced significant challenges that requires novel compounds with such ability. Here, a UiO-66(Zr) metal-organic framework (MOF) functionalized with SO3H group (SO3H-UiO-66(Zr)) is deposited on the end-face of an optical fiber to detect lead cations (Pb2+) in water at 25.

Proof of Concept for Light Conducting Membrane Substrate for UV-Activated Photocatalysis as an Alternative to Chemical Cleaning.

Adopting an effective strategy to control fouling is a necessary requirement for all membrane processes used in the water/wastewater treatment industry to operate sustainably. The use of ultraviolet (UV) activated photocatalysis has been shown to be effective in mitigating ceramic membrane fouling by natural organic matter. The widely used configuration in which light is directed through the polluted water to the membrane's active layer suffers from inefficiencies brought about by light absorption by the pollutants and light shielding by the cake layer.

Dual Functional Ultrafiltration Membranes with Enzymatic Digestion and Thermo-Responsivity for Protein Self-Cleaning.

Controlling surface⁻protein interaction during wastewater treatment is the key motivation for developing functionally modified membranes. A new biocatalytic thermo-responsive poly vinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/nylon-6,6/poly(-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAAm) ultrafiltration membrane was fabricated to achieve dual functionality of protein-digestion and thermo-responsive self-cleaning. The PVDF/nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm composite membranes were constructed by integrating a hydrophobic PVDF cast layer and hydrophilic nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm nanofiber layer on to which trypsin was covalently immobilized.

Wetting phenomena in membrane distillation: Mechanisms, reversal, and prevention.

Membrane distillation (MD) is a rapidly emerging water treatment technology; however, membrane pore wetting is a primary barrier to widespread industrial use of MD. The primary causes of membrane wetting are exceedance of liquid entry pressure and membrane fouling. Developments in membrane design and the use of pretreatment have provided significant advancement toward wetting prevention in membrane distillation, but further progress is needed.

Charge tunable thin-film composite membranes by gamma-ray triggered surface polymerization.

Thin-film composite poly(amide) (PA) membranes have greatly diversified water supplies and food products. However, users would benefit from a control of the electrostatic interactions between the liquid and the net surface charge interface in order to benefit wider application. The ionic selectivity of the 100 nm PA semi-permeable layer is significantly affected by the pH of the solution.

Nanofiber Composite Membrane with Intrinsic Janus Surface for Reversed-Protein-Fouling Ultrafiltration.

Janus nanofiber based composite ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were fabricated via a two-step method, i.e., consecutive electrospinning of hydrophilic nylon-6,6/chitosan nanofiber blend and conventional casting of hydrophobic poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) dope solution.

Mixed Matrix Carbon Molecular Sieve and Alumina (CMS-Al2O3) Membranes.

This work shows mixed matrix inorganic membranes prepared by the vacuum-assisted impregnation method, where phenolic resin precursors filled the pore of α-alumina substrates. Upon carbonisation, the phenolic resin decomposed into several fragments derived from the backbone of the resin matrix. The final stages of decomposition (>650 °C) led to a formation of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) structures, reaching the lowest average pore sizes of ~5 Å at carbonisation temperatures of 700 °C.

Towards Enhanced Performance Thin-film Composite Membranes via Surface Plasma Modification.

Advancing the design of thin-film composite membrane surfaces is one of the most promising pathways to deal with treating varying water qualities and increase their long-term stability and permeability. Although plasma technologies have been explored for surface modification of bulk micro and ultrafiltration membrane materials, the modification of thin film composite membranes is yet to be systematically investigated. Here, the performance of commercial thin-film composite desalination membranes has been significantly enhanced by rapid and facile, low pressure, argon plasma activation.

UiO-66 MOF end-face-coated optical fiber in aqueous contaminant detection.

Optical quality metal organic framework (MOF) thin films were integrated, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, with structured optical fiber substrates to develop MOF-fiber sensors. The MOF-fiber structure, UiO-66 (Zr-based MOF is well known for its water stability), is a thin film that acts as an effective analyte collector. This provided a Fabry-Perot sensor in which concentrations of up to 15 mM Rhodamine-B were detected via wavelength shifts in the interference spectrum.

Amine Enrichment of Thin-Film Composite Membranes via Low Pressure Plasma Polymerization for Antimicrobial Adhesion.

Thin-film composite membranes, primarily based on poly(amide) (PA) semipermeable materials, are nowadays the dominant technology used in pressure driven water desalination systems. Despite offering superior water permeation and salt selectivity, their surface properties, such as their charge and roughness, cannot be extensively tuned due to the intrinsic fabrication process of the membranes by interfacial polymerization. The alteration of these properties would lead to a better control of the materials surface zeta potential, which is critical to finely tune selectivity and enhance the membrane materials stability when exposed to complex industrial waste streams.

Properties of acid whey as a function of pH and temperature.

Compositional differences of acid whey (AW) in comparison with other whey types limit its processability and application of conventional membrane processing. Hence, the present study aimed to identify chemical and physical properties of AW solutions as a function of pH (3 to 10.5) at 4 different temperatures (15, 25, 40, or 90°C) to propose appropriate membrane-processing conditions for efficient use of AW streams.

Changes in glucose fermentation pathways by an enriched bacterial culture in response to regulated dissolved H2 concentrations.

It is well established that metabolic pathways in the fermentation of organic waste are primarily controlled by dissolved H2 concentrations, but there is no reported study that compares observed and predicted shifts in fermentation pathways induced by manipulating the dissolved H2 concentration. A perfusion system is presented that was developed to control dissolved H2 concentrations in the continuous fermentation of glucose by a culture highly enriched towards Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum (86 ± 9% relative abundance) from an originally diverse consortia in the leachate of a laboratory digester fed with municipal solid waste. Media from a 2.