The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation
Previous studies of membrane distillation (MD) have shown that superhydrophobic membranes experience dramatically less inorganic and particulate fouling. However, little explanation for this improved performance has been given in the literature. Furthermore, studies comp...
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American Water Works Association (AWWA)
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112263 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3446-1473 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8375-2694 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2901-0638 |
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| author | Warsinger, David Elan Martin Gonzalez, Jocelyn V. Van Belleghem, Sarah M. Servi, Amelia T Swaminathan, Jaichander Chung, Hyung Won Lienhard, John H. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Warsinger, David Elan Martin Gonzalez, Jocelyn V. Van Belleghem, Sarah M. Servi, Amelia T Swaminathan, Jaichander Chung, Hyung Won Lienhard, John H. |
| author_sort | Warsinger, David Elan Martin |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Previous studies of membrane distillation (MD) have shown that superhydrophobic membranes experience dramatically less inorganic and particulate fouling. However, little explanation for this improved performance has been given in the literature. Furthermore, studies comparing membrane superhydrophobicity and biofouling are lacking, though superhydrophobic surfaces are known to be more vulnerable to biofouling than other types. In non-membrane surfaces, visible air layers on superhydrophobic surfaces have been correlated with
significant decreases in biofouling. Therefore, it was proposed here to use superhydrophobic MD membranes with periodic introduction of air to maintain an air layer on the membrane surface. Superhydrophobic membranes were created with initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) of a fluorinated compound, perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA). The substrate membrane was PVDF. To test MD fouling, an MD membrane was placed on top of a fouling solution, with a heater and stirrer to caus
e evaporation of water through the membrane. Results were analyzed with foulant mass measurements. Alginate gel fouling was examined, as this compound is a common proxy for biological fouling in ocean w
ater. The introduction of air layers was found to dramatically decrease foulant adhesion to the membrane, by 95-97%. Membrane superhydrophobicity made a much smaller impact in reducing fouling.
Keywords
membrane distillation, superhydrophobic surfaces, alginate, air layers, anti-fouling |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:13:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/112263 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:13:43Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Water Works Association (AWWA) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1122632022-09-30T00:35:41Z The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation Warsinger, David Elan Martin Gonzalez, Jocelyn V. Van Belleghem, Sarah M. Servi, Amelia T Swaminathan, Jaichander Chung, Hyung Won Lienhard, John H. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Warsinger, David Elan Martin Gonzalez, Jocelyn V. Van Belleghem, Sarah M. Servi, Amelia T Swaminathan, Jaichander Chung, Hyung Won Lienhard, John H. Previous studies of membrane distillation (MD) have shown that superhydrophobic membranes experience dramatically less inorganic and particulate fouling. However, little explanation for this improved performance has been given in the literature. Furthermore, studies comparing membrane superhydrophobicity and biofouling are lacking, though superhydrophobic surfaces are known to be more vulnerable to biofouling than other types. In non-membrane surfaces, visible air layers on superhydrophobic surfaces have been correlated with significant decreases in biofouling. Therefore, it was proposed here to use superhydrophobic MD membranes with periodic introduction of air to maintain an air layer on the membrane surface. Superhydrophobic membranes were created with initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) of a fluorinated compound, perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA). The substrate membrane was PVDF. To test MD fouling, an MD membrane was placed on top of a fouling solution, with a heater and stirrer to caus e evaporation of water through the membrane. Results were analyzed with foulant mass measurements. Alginate gel fouling was examined, as this compound is a common proxy for biological fouling in ocean w ater. The introduction of air layers was found to dramatically decrease foulant adhesion to the membrane, by 95-97%. Membrane superhydrophobicity made a much smaller impact in reducing fouling. Keywords membrane distillation, superhydrophobic surfaces, alginate, air layers, anti-fouling 2017-11-21T19:58:47Z 2017-11-21T19:58:47Z 2015 2017-11-21T16:40:26Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112263 Warsinger, David E. M. et al. "The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation." 2015 Annual Conference and Exposition: Uniting the World of Water, June 8-10 2015, Anaheim, California, American Water Works Association (AWWA), 2015 © 2015 American Water Works Association (AWWA) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3446-1473 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8375-2694 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2901-0638 https://www.awwa.org/conferences-education/conferences/ace15-highlights.aspx 2015 Annual Conference and Exposition: Uniting the World of Water Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf American Water Works Association (AWWA) Warsinger |
| spellingShingle | Warsinger, David Elan Martin Gonzalez, Jocelyn V. Van Belleghem, Sarah M. Servi, Amelia T Swaminathan, Jaichander Chung, Hyung Won Lienhard, John H. The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title | The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title_full | The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title_fullStr | The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title_short | The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation |
| title_sort | combined effect of air layers and membrane superhydrophobicity on biofouling in membrane distillation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112263 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3446-1473 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8375-2694 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2901-0638 |
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