Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics
Despite the high removal ability of the wastewater treatment technologies, research efforts have been limited to the relatively large-sized microplastics, leaving nanoplastics outside the studied size spectrum. This study aims to evaluate the process performance of MF and UF membranes for the remova...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Membranes |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/7/683 |
| _version_ | 1797588358144196608 |
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| author | Serena Molina Helena Ocaña-Biedma Laura Rodríguez-Sáez Junkal Landaburu-Aguirre |
| author_facet | Serena Molina Helena Ocaña-Biedma Laura Rodríguez-Sáez Junkal Landaburu-Aguirre |
| author_sort | Serena Molina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the high removal ability of the wastewater treatment technologies, research efforts have been limited to the relatively large-sized microplastics, leaving nanoplastics outside the studied size spectrum. This study aims to evaluate the process performance of MF and UF membranes for the removal of single and mixed solutions of polystyrene nanospheres (120 and 500 nm) and BSA. The process performance was evaluated in terms of the rejection coefficient, the normalized flux, and the permeability recovery. The fouling mechanism of these pollutants was studied, evaluating the effect of different membrane materials, membrane pore sizes, and nanoplastic sizes, as well as the synergetic effect of the mixture of foulants. This study was complemented by surface membrane characterization. Polystyrene nanospheres were successfully removed with all the membranes studied, except for the MF membrane that obtained PS 120 nm rejection coefficients of 26%. Single nanoplastic particles were deposited in UF membranes creating a pore blocking and cake layer formation, whilst the nanoplastics of 120 nm were accumulated inside the MF membrane creating an internal pore blocking. In mixed solutions, the BSA acted in two different ways: (i) as a stabilizer, hindering the deposition of nanoplastics and (ii) as a main foulant that caused a substantial flux reduction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:50:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6485b97697c54deaa5919d817717d719 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:50:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Membranes |
| spelling | doaj.art-6485b97697c54deaa5919d817717d7192023-11-18T20:26:53ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752023-07-0113768310.3390/membranes13070683Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of NanoplasticsSerena Molina0Helena Ocaña-Biedma1Laura Rodríguez-Sáez2Junkal Landaburu-Aguirre3IMDEA Water Institute, Punto Com. nº 2, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, SpainIMDEA Water Institute, Punto Com. nº 2, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, SpainIMDEA Water Institute, Punto Com. nº 2, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, SpainIMDEA Water Institute, Punto Com. nº 2, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, SpainDespite the high removal ability of the wastewater treatment technologies, research efforts have been limited to the relatively large-sized microplastics, leaving nanoplastics outside the studied size spectrum. This study aims to evaluate the process performance of MF and UF membranes for the removal of single and mixed solutions of polystyrene nanospheres (120 and 500 nm) and BSA. The process performance was evaluated in terms of the rejection coefficient, the normalized flux, and the permeability recovery. The fouling mechanism of these pollutants was studied, evaluating the effect of different membrane materials, membrane pore sizes, and nanoplastic sizes, as well as the synergetic effect of the mixture of foulants. This study was complemented by surface membrane characterization. Polystyrene nanospheres were successfully removed with all the membranes studied, except for the MF membrane that obtained PS 120 nm rejection coefficients of 26%. Single nanoplastic particles were deposited in UF membranes creating a pore blocking and cake layer formation, whilst the nanoplastics of 120 nm were accumulated inside the MF membrane creating an internal pore blocking. In mixed solutions, the BSA acted in two different ways: (i) as a stabilizer, hindering the deposition of nanoplastics and (ii) as a main foulant that caused a substantial flux reduction.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/7/683ultrafiltration membranesmicrofiltration membranesnanoplasticsmembrane process performanceBSAsynergetic effect |
| spellingShingle | Serena Molina Helena Ocaña-Biedma Laura Rodríguez-Sáez Junkal Landaburu-Aguirre Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics Membranes ultrafiltration membranes microfiltration membranes nanoplastics membrane process performance BSA synergetic effect |
| title | Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics |
| title_full | Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics |
| title_fullStr | Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics |
| title_short | Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics |
| title_sort | experimental evaluation of the process performance of mf and uf membranes for the removal of nanoplastics |
| topic | ultrafiltration membranes microfiltration membranes nanoplastics membrane process performance BSA synergetic effect |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/7/683 |
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