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The photocatalytic membranes have been reported to treat textile dye effluents; however, it is challenging to maintain their long-term functionality due to the poor binding stability of nanoparticles on the membrane surface and the low stability of the membrane to UV radiation. To address this, PVDF photocatalytic hollow fiber membranes were prepared by coating with polydopamine (PDA) for 1–4 h, then with titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2) in the current study. SEM and EDX results showed that TiO 2 adhered firmly to the PDA-pretreated membrane after ultrasonic treatment. The PDA layer protected the membranes from UV irradiation. The PVDF-TiO 2 membrane without PDA pretreatment was destroyed after 24 h of UV irradiation, while after 9 days of continuous irradiation, the membranes treated with PDA for 2 h remained unchanged. Compared with the original membrane, applying PVDF membranes coated with PDA for 2 h and TiO 2 for 1 h increased the Reactive Red 239 rejection and flux recovery rates by 13% and 40%, respectively, achieving 60% COD removal. The permeate flux and dye rejection rate were stable after 5 cycles (20 h of operation). This study demonstrates that the obtained membranes can perform prolonged membrane filtration with high-performance durability for dye wastewater treatment. [Display omitted] • TiO 2 was strongly bonded to the PVDF membrane pretreated with PDA. • Introducing PDA-TiO 2 enhanced the stability of dye permeate flux and dye rejection. • The PVDF-PDA-TiO 2 membranes significantly improved the COD removal efficiency. • PVDF-PDA-2h-TiO 2 -1 h membrane showed excellent resistance to UV and reusability. • Self-protecting/cleaning, hydrophilicity, and durability of membrane all improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of whey processing has been changed from waste treatment to the production of valuable products owing to the advancement of membrane technology. Producing high quality whey products at low energy consumption entails novel techniques for whey concentration. This study proposes forward osmosis (FO) as a potential approach to concentrate whey protein solutions, which is superior to the concentration via reverse osmosis (RO), mainly owing to the low hydraulic pressure during FO process. In particular, this work validated the feasibility of FO-based whey concentration using high-performance hollow fiber membranes that were fabricated in-house. The investigation focused on the effects of various operating conditions on the concentration performance. The experimental results reveal that optimal concentration efficiency would be achieved by appropriately choosing the cross-flow velocity, draw solution concentration and the maximum attainable concentration of whey protein solution. Especially, the flux decline behaviour as a function of the whey protein concentration in the feed solution indicated rapid formation of a polarized or gel foulant layer at the membrane surface. The proposed mechanism was supported by the investigation of physical cleaning with water, showing that the post-process cleaning after the concentration cycle was able to recover the membrane performance, whereas the intermediate cleaning during one concentration cycle had little impact on the concentration efficiency enhancement. This study has practical significance for the application of FO in the concentration of dairy streams and other liquid foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial polymerization is an effective technique to synthesize high performance polyamide thin film membranes. However, it is still very challenging to apply this technique on ceramic hollow fibres or tubular membranes, especially when the substrate pore size is in the microfiltration range. In this study, we demonstrated that thin polyamide layer can be synthesized directly on microfiltration ceramic tubular membranes with a surface pore size of 0.1–0.2 μm via interfacial polymerization without an intermediate layer. A thin polyamide layer with a thickness 30–40 nm was coated on the inner surface of the ceramic substrate by circulating the monomers of branched polyethyleneimine (PEI), piperazine (PIP), and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) through the membrane lumen. The thin film layer showed good integration with the ceramic substrate and could withstand high pressure of at least 10 bar. The mechanical property of the polyamide layer was examined using AFM and the modulus was measured. The thin film composite membranes demonstrated excellent nanofiltration performance with a pure water permeability of 16–18 LMH bar−1 and a molecular weight cut-off of ∼250 Da. The membranes also showed good salt rejections (>90%) to CaCl 2 , MgCl 2 and MgSO 4 , and still maintained high rejections of MgCl 2 and sucrose at elevated temperature of 80 °C. The use of highly inert ceramic substrates has enabled the application of polyamide membranes under more challenging conditions. Image 1 • PEI-based polyamide thin film was synthesized on microfiltration ceramic tubular membranes without an intermediate layer. • The membranes demonstrated excellent nanofiltration performance with a PWP of 16–18 LMH bar−1 and a MWCO of ∼250 Da. • The membranes also showed good divalent salt rejections for CaCl 2 , MgCl 2 and MgSO 4. • The rejections of MgCl 2 and sucrose remained high at elevated temperature of 80 °C. • The mechanical property of the polyamide film was studied using the AFM pinpoint mode and the modulus was measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report demonstrates the fabrication of a composite hollow fiber membrane that efficiently recovers dissolved methane (dCH 4) from anaerobic wastewater treatment effluents via membrane contactor (MC) process. We first fabricated highly porous hollow fiber membranes (∼85% porosity) using polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF). Then, we coated the whole structure (bulk), or lumen side of PVDF supports with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic polymer possessing high gas permeability. The adjustment of the concentration of PDMS precursor mix could effectively serve for tuning the performance characteristics of MC membranes and helped suppress membrane wetting, a major performance-reducing factor. Despite their denser skin layers, the lumen-modified membranes demonstrated superior dCH 4 recovery flux. Mass transfer analyses have confirmed the importance of preserving bulk porosity while coating the membrane surfaces. The long-term performance tests performed using actual anaerobic effluents suggested that the PDMS coating did not accelerate fouling, such that the lumen-modified MC membranes showed an almost steady flux for 8 days with an anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent. A high-strength effluent, obtained from an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor, induced faster fouling. However, we observed only a ∼20% flux decline in a 10-day operation. Thus, we propose that the designed PDMS-PVDF composite membranes are promising for industrial practices. Image 1 • We prepared PDMS-coated PVDF porous hollow fiber membranes for membrane contacting. • Both lumen- and bulk-modified PVDF membranes were successful in methane recovery. • Lumen-modified PDMS-PVDF membrane outperformed commercial PP and PDMS membranes. • Lumen-modified PVDF achieved long-term performance with actual anaerobic effluents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tailoring the hydrophobic properties of membranes is an important requirement in gas-liquid membrane contactor processes because the membrane can be wetted by liquid. This paper describes the hydrophobic modification of the chemical surface of a polyvinylidene fluoride hollow-fiber membrane using a commercial perfluoropolyether, Fluorolink S10. The contact angle of the modified membrane was influenced by the modification parameters, and hence parameter optimization was required to obtain a highly hydrophobic membrane. The sodium hydroxide concentration (pH 8, 10 and 12), dehydrofluorination time (30, 60 and 90 min), and chemical solution grafting time (30, 60 and 90 min) were identified as the control parameters of this modification and were optimized using the Taguchi approach. The optimized membrane was then applied to recover methane from anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent and benchmarked with a commercial polypropylene membrane manufactured for degasification of water. The contact angle of the polyvinylidene fluoride membrane was improved by 32% after the surface modification (under the optimal modification condition indicated by the Taguchi method). The membrane mass transfer coefficient was measured as 1.53 × 10 −4 m/s. Our membrane showed better methane recovery performance than the commercial polypropylene membrane and a very stable flux without pore wetting during 10 days of operation with synthetic effluent (made by saturating a 60:40 methane/carbon dioxide mixture into tap water). In addition, the membrane prepared in this study could be operated without significant fouling (7% flux drop during 8 days of operation) with real anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinking was adopted in combination of layer-by-layer (LBL) polyelectrolyte deposition to develop a novel hollow fiber NF membrane with low-pressure water softening capability for synthesized hard water containing divalent counterion SO 4 2− . The challenges for the new membrane include (a) the presence of SO 4 2− in the feed water, which tends to deteriorate positively charged NF membrane retention to divalent ions; (b) high salinity feed water up to 10,000 ppm total dissolved salt (TDS); (c) 2 bar operating pressure that requires the membrane to have a good Mg 2+ /Na + selectivity and less mass transfer resistance in the substrate; and (d) better separation performance as compared with the state-of-the-art and commercial NF membranes. Based on the membrane characterization results, the possible structure of the deposited layers and the effect of GA crosslink was proposed. It was found that the crosslinking could tighten the membrane surface pores with increased hydrophilicity while the membrane surface charge was reduced. Therefore, mainly based on the size exclusion, the crosslinked LBL*1.5C membrane showed more than 10 LMH/bar permeability with above 95% rejection to each of 1000 ppm MgCl 2 , MgSO 4 and Na 2 SO 4 solution under 2 bar pressure. It was also proved to be more suitable for the low-pressure water softening application at 2 bar in all tested feed water with the presence of SO 4 2− and TDS up to 10,000 ppm in terms of both permeability and hardness removal efficiency when compared with commercial NF 270 and NF 90 membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The layer-by-layer (LBL) polyelectrolyte deposited membranes have drawn increasing attention in various applications due to the ease of selective layer formation and their stability and versatility. In this study, the LBL deposition was performed at the inner surface of the polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber substrate to form composite nanofiltration (NF) membrane. The semi-dynamic deposition procedure was adopted with the aid of syringes. The newly developed inner deposited (id-LBL) membranes were then tested in NF and forward osmosis (FO) applications and the performance were compared with outer surface deposition as well as some literature data. The id-LBL membranes could not only withstand higher operating pressure but also possess superior hardness rejection especially in high concentration mixed salt solutions (more than 95% rejection to Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ in a 5000 ppm total dissolved salt (TDS) mixture under 4.8 bar). As for the FO process, with only two layer deposition, the id-LBL membranes also demonstrated significant performance improvement with increased water flux (up to 70 L/m 2 h using 0.5 M MgCl 2 as draw solution in active layer facing draw solution configuration) and reduced salt leakage (around 0.5 g/m 2 h using 1 M MgCl 2 draw solution in active layer facing feed water configuration). This study suggests that for hollow fiber substrate, the inner surface is more suitable for the formation of the selective layer via LBL deposition than the outer surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic wastewater treatment processes are becoming increasingly widespread due to their advantages in sludge management and net energy consumption. One major reason behind the energy benefit of the mainstream anaerobic processes is methane (CH 4) production. Nevertheless, over one-third of the produced CH 4 typically remains in effluent streams in dissolved form. To recover the dissolved CH 4 (dCH 4) from anaerobic effluents, the membrane contactor (MC) process enabled by porous membranes offers a promising way. However, membrane wetting and fouling issues hinder the practical implementation of the concept. Here we report a wetting- and fouling-resistant hollow fiber membrane that can operate with realistic anaerobic effluents. Coating of a highly porous (~85%) hollow fiber support with a conformal layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) provides resistance to wetting, but fouling persists. To tackle the fouling issue, we post-treated the uncured PDMS-coatings with PDMS-based amphiphilic copolymers with short (147 Da) or long (~1570 Da) side chains. Both types of post-treated membranes exhibited an improved performance when tested against effluent samples taken not only from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor but also from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The membrane treated with the short-side-chain copolymer could sustain 7 days of continuous operation with UASB effluent with a performance loss of only ~10%. We observed that the fouling layers were much richer in proteins rather than subtances similar to humic and fulvic acids and microbial byproducts. Besides, we calculated that our wetting/fouling-resistant membranes provide a net energy benefit for the MC process (when the recovered CH 4 is retrofitted to the process as fuel). Thus, our results suggest that the MC-based dCH 4 recovery process is a viable alternative for industrial practices in case the demonstrated custom-designed membranes are employed. Image 1 • PDMS coating provides antiwetting property to PVDF-based hollow fiber membranes. • Hydrophilization of PDMS-coated composite membranes provides fouling resistance. • We recovered >50% of dissolved CH4 from anaerobic effluents via contactor process. • A performance loss of only ~10% took place for UASB effluents at a 7-day operation. • Contactor process may enhance net energy output of anaerobic wastewater treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A membrane contactor has been considered as one of the most effective tools for biomethane (CH 4) recovery from anaerobic effluents owing to its several strengths. However, without thoroughly understanding various factors ranging from operating parameters (e.g., liquid or gas flow rate) to membrane characteristics (e.g., porosity, pore size, hydrophobicity, inner diameter, membrane area, and fiber length), a membrane contactor could just break even, or even worse, may be operated at a loss before turning a profit. Much of the groundwork is required to make sure to gain net benefits while avoiding those sorts of pitfalls. Herein, we attempted to screen several factors ranging from operation-to membrane-related parameters to ensure whether they meet essential criteria. To be specific, this study covers the following aspects: i) the optimal gas-liquid flow rate (G / L) ratio to minimize both the gas-phase resistance and the dilution of the final sweep gas, ii) the combined effects of G / L ratio and mass transfer area (A M) on the energy recovery performance, iii) the influences of an inner diameter (d i) and A M on the CH 4 recovery (RE CH4) and the net energy production, iv) the influences of the L , porous structure, A M , and hydrophobicity on the RE CH4 and the energy output from the microturbine, v) the minimum criterion for the d i to minimize the energy required for the liquid pump, and vi) correlation between the pore structure and pore clogging. Through the thorough studies, we drew nine useful and meaningful conclusions including the best G / L ratio (0.0425 at the A M of 1 m2), necessary requisites (porous structure, larger A M , and more hydrophobicity) for higher RE CH4 , the lower limit of a d i (190 μm) to minimize the energy required for the liquid pump, and so on. We expect that this comprehensive study can help researchers and engineers opt for operation- and membrane-related parameters leading to the desirable performance of a membrane contactor for energy recovery from anaerobic effluents. Image 1 • The influences of membrane contactor operation parameters on the net energy production were systematically examined. • The influences of membrane characteristics on the energy production were also delineated. • Both theoretical and empirical studies were comprehensively carried out. • The criteria for the two parameters were provided to maximize the net energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new class of thin film nanocomposite (TFN) hollow fiber (HF) membrane of polydopamine (PDA) modified HKUST-1 (mHKUST-1) incorporated in polyamide (PA) matrix supported by polyethersulfone (PES) substrate was constructed via interfacial polymerization method for brackish water desalination in low-pressure reverse osmosis (RO) process. The PDA modification facilitated the HKUST-1 even dispersion, thus resulting in better compatibility between the inorganic nanofillers and the organic matrix. The impact of HKUST-1 loadings on the overall performances of the resultant HKUST-1@PA/PES membranes was investigated. Introducing the mHKUST-1 nanofillers not only enhanced surface hydrophilicity and negative surface charges for the selective layer, which improved membrane's fouling resistance to humic acid (HA), but also led to nearly doubled water permeance when comparing with the pristine PA membrane (increasing from 3.51 to 6.94 Lm−2h-1bar−1), without obvious salt rejection deterioration (~98.2% at 2 bar and 97.4% rejections at 4 bar for 500/2000 ppm NaCl solutions, respectively). The integrity of the HKUST-1@PA/PES membrane was examined and verified after 30-days operation. Overall, the results achieved in this work demonstrate promising potential of the metal organic framework (MOF)-based TFN membranes used for desalination in low-pressure RO process. To sum up, this work has exhibited a facile method to incorporate the metal organic framework (MOF) into the PA layer, and the resultant MOF-based TFN membrane indicates its great potential for desalination in low-pressure RO process. • A thin film nanocomposite hollow fiber membrane was constructed via interfacial polymerization. • Polydopamine (PDA) modified HKUST-1 was incorporated in polyamide matrix supported by polyethersulfone substrate. • The PDA modification facilitated the HKUST-1 even dispersion in PA matrix, without the formation of defects. • A water permeability of 6.94 Lm−2h-1bar−1 and 97.4% rejections at 4 bar for 2000 ppm NaCl solution were achieved. • The long-term stability test verified the good integrity of the HKUST-1@PA/PES membranes after 30-days operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors affect the performance of membrane-contacting systems for recovering dissolved methane (CH 4) from anaerobic effluents, from membrane- to operations-related parameters. However, the conditions necessary to achieve high-efficiency CH 4 recovery remain unclear. To improve our understanding of these dynamics, we systematically investigated the effects of membranes' physicochemical characteristics and operating parameters in a membrane-contacting system. We not only explored theoretical approaches to weigh the influence of diverse parameters but also evaluated the performance of four types of membranes with distinct morphological and chemical characteristics at various liquid velocities. According to our theoretical calculations, enlarging the mass transfer area (A M) decreases CH 4 flux while a higher liquid flow rate (L) results in a reduction in CH 4 recovery. Meanwhile, increasing the membrane's inner diameter (d i) has a negative influence on both CH 4 flux and recovery. However, a larger A M and a higher L are required to achieve higher recovery and flux, respectively. Our experimental results demonstrate that the capillary pressure imposed by the module inlet, pore wetting, and membrane resistance can also significantly affect the overall mass transfer resistance, thereby having a profound effect on CH 4 flux. We clarify the underlying mechanisms to explain how each parameter influences CH 4 flux and recovery, which leads to a system optimization to achieve the greatest CH 4 recovery efficiency. Image 1 • The influence of membrane characteristics on methane (CH 4) recovery in a membrane contactor was investigated. • The influence of operating parameters on CH 4 recovery was also evaluated. • Both theoretical and experimental analyses were conducted for a comprehensive understanding. • The requirements to obtain the optimum CH 4 recovery efficiency were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Membranes containing SNW-1 nanoparticles and Co(acac) 3 were successfully fabricated. • Combined use of SNW-1 and Co(acac) 3 enhanced O 2 permeability and O 2 /N 2 selectivity. • Both solubility and diffision selectivity can be enhanced by Co(acac) 3 and SNW-1. Mixed-matrix membranes containing a porous organic framework (SNW-1 nanoparticles) and a cobalt-based complex (Co(acac) 3) were fabricated using the solution-casting technique for potential applications in O 2 /N 2 separation. The mixed-matrix membranes did not show any appreciable defects. In the following mixture gas permeation testing conducted with a binary mixture composed of 21% O 2 and 79% N 2 at 1 bar feed pressure and 35 °C, the mixed-matrix membranes containing SNW-1 nanoparticles showed an enhanced O 2 permeability, whereas Co(acac) 3 improved the O 2 /N 2 selectivity. Hence, with a combination of both nanoparticles and a Cobalt complex in a polymer matrix, a clear synergistic enhancement in O 2 /N 2 separation properties was reported, in which O 2 permeability and O 2 /N 2 selectivity were escalated by 33% and 18%, respectively. Solubility-diffusivity analysis in the mixed-matrix membranes revealed that SNW-1 and Co(acac) 3 can improve O 2 diffusivity and O 2 solubility, respectively, resulting in an enhancement of both O 2 permeability and O 2 /N 2 selectivity for membranes containing both the nanoparticles and the cobalt complex. Future efforts will be focused on developing asymmetric hollow fiber membranes with thin skin layer comprising both SNW-1 and Co(acac) 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas-liquid membrane contactor (GLMC) has been regarded as a promising alternative to conventional contacting processes for CO 2 absorption. In this work, a composite hollow fiber (HF) membrane with an aminosilane-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (mZIF-8) based dense skin layer was designed and synthesized for high-efficiency biogas upgrading in the GLMC process, by dispersing mZIF-8 nanocrystals into poly(dimethylsiloxane) matrix and then depositing on a porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate. (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane was introduced to modify the ZIF-8 nanocrystals, thereby enabling the chemical bonding with PDMS chains for avoiding interfacial voids and further enhancing hydrophobicity. Compared with the control membrane, the newly developed mZIF-8 based composite membrane with a dense skin exhibited competitive hydrophobicity with a contact angle of 130°, ensuring its anti-wetting ability. It exhibited an enhanced biogas upgrading performance with the absorption fluxes of 2.3 and 3.8 × 10−3 mol m−2·s−1 using water and 1 M monoethanolamine (MEA) as absorbents, respectively (liquid velocity = 0.25 m s−1). In particular, a comparable selectivity of CO 2 /CH 4 with the value of ∼20 was achieved by using MEA as absorbent in the GLMC process. A robust long-term stability of the mZIF-8 based composite HF membrane was also achieved in a 15-day operation. This work offers a new perspective for promoting CO 2 mass transfer with mZIF-8 based composite HF membranes, thereby improving the biogas upgrading performance in GLMC applications. • A composite hollow fiber membrane with a ZIF-8 based dense skin layer was designed and synthesized. • The ZIF-8 nanocrystals were modified to cross-link with PDMS chains for further hydrophobicity enhancement. • The newly developed membrane exhibited competitive hydrophobicity, ensuring its anti-wetting ability. • An enhanced biogas upgrading performance was achieved in gas-liquid membrane contact applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How the membrane support affects the performance of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes has long been under debate. Our present study experimentally establishes that the support pore number density (number per unit area) as well as its surface porosity play pivotal roles in affecting the characteristics and permselectivity of TFC membranes. The structure of hollow fiber supports was finely tuned and characterized via a series of techniques, which provided a link to the physicochemical properties of the interfacially polymerized polyamide films. During the spinning process, decreasing the content of N -methyl-2-pyrrolidone in the bore fluid drastically reduced the pore size and surface porosity of the support. The resultant TFC membranes showed a lower water permeability (tested under 1 bar using 500 ppm NaCl). Adding lithium chloride to the polymer dope also led to a support with smaller pores and lower porosity, but increased surface pore number density. The resulting TFC membranes had a substantially higher water permeability and slightly higher salt rejection. In both arrays of membranes, all membranes shared similar thickness of polyamide leaf but a more crumpled film was found on a less porous support, suggesting that the surface porosity of the support affected the effective surface area of films. However, the TFC membrane with a higher effective surface area did not necessarily possess a higher permeability. Rather, a TFC membrane having a support with a higher surface porosity or a higher pore number density exhibited a higher water permeability, demonstrating that the lateral transport path of water through films had a significant impact on the water permeability of TFC membranes. Interestingly, in both cases, the selectivity of the TFC membranes was maintained when the water permeability increased. This study clarifies longstanding misunderstandings concerning the effects of the support on TFC membrane performance and provides insight into fabricating highly permeable and selective TFC membranes. • A base film embedded in the polyamide layer determines performance of TFC membranes. • Enlarging surface porosity of supports could enhance permeability of TFC membranes. • Increasing pore density of supports could enhance permeability of TFC membranes. • Supports affect lateral diffusion of water through films and thereby permeability. • Rejection was maintained while the permeability of TFC was drastically enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The combination of nonsolvent and thermally induced phase separation (N-TIPS) method has shown promising ability in harvesting the features from the nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) and thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) processes for developing membranes with a tailorable surface pore structure. However, previous approaches have been subjected to either the formation of macrovoids or dense layer due to the dominant NIPS effect, or required sophisticated instruments and operation skills. In this work, a facile attempt was carried out to fabricate novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes with tunable surface pore structure while maintaining the narrow pore size distribution and mechanical strength. A modified N-TIPS method was developed by using mixed diluents: dimethyl phthalate (DMP) as a water-immiscible poor solvent for TIPS process, and triethyl phosphate (TEP) as a water-miscible neutral solvent to bridge the TIPS and NIPS processes. To further control the membrane formation especially near the membrane surface, an amphiphilic additive Pluronic F127 was also added as a potential pore-former and surface hydrophilicity modifier. PVDF hollow fiber membranes with a highly porous structure and a narrow pore size distribution were successfully synthesized by using TEP and Pluronic F127 in the N-TIPS process. The mechanism of N-TIPS process was thoroughly discussed. The water permeability of the membrane increased significantly from 389 ± 30–922 ± 36 L m–2 h–1 bar–1, with overall porosity improved from 50 ± 2.2–69 ± 2.9%, and a mean pore size of ~ 0.18 µm. The membranes produced by N-TIPS method also exhibited a good tensile strength ranging from 5.6 ± 0.1–6.5 ± 0.2 MPa, showing a great potential for a broad range of water applications after further modifications. Besides, the formation of piezoelectric β-phase crystals of the PVDF membrane was observed when the mixed diluent was used, which sheds light on the possible applications of resultant membranes in electrochemical separation process. Highlights • PVDF hollow fiber membranes were developed via a modified N-TIPS method using mixed diluents together with Pluronic F127. • The NIPS effect could be induced at the outer surface with the co-occurrence of TIPS process along the bulk of membrane. • The surface pore structure of membrane could be tailored without the formation of mechanically weak macrovoids. • The prepared membranes possess a hydrophobic surface with good porosity, permeability and mechanical strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a positively charged hollow fiber nanofiltration (NF) membrane based on twice interfacial polymerization (IP) reactions was developed for water soften and heavy metal ions removal. The first IP reaction was conducted on the polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber substrate using a mixture of branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and piperazine (PIP) as the aqueous phase monomers in the aqueous phase reacting with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) in the cyclohexane solution. Then, a secondary IP reaction was performed between tris(2-aminoethyl) amine (TAEA) solution and the residual acyl chloride groups on the membrane to increase the positive charge density on the membrane surface. Consequently, a NF membrane with intensified positive surface charge density was successfully fabricated. The optimized membranes achieved a high rejection of MgCl 2 of 97.6% while maintaining a pure water permeability (PWP) of 16.0 L m−2 h−1 bar−1. Meanwhile, the membranes exhibit high rejection values of 99.8% to Cu2+ and 99.7% to Zn2+, respectively. In conclusion, this work provides a facile way to prepare a positively charged membrane for efficient water softening and metal ions removal. [Display omitted] • A novel polyamide NF hollow fiber membrane via a secondary IP reaction had been successfully fabricated. • The secondary IP reaction between TAEA and the residual acyl chloride groups effectively enhances the positive change density on membrane surface. • This modification method has no influence on membrane structure. • The optimum membrane shows more than 90% rejection of Mg2+ and Ca2+ and 99% rejection of heavy metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inorganic-organic fluorinated titania-silica (fTiO 2 -SiO 2 )/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane was fabricated, via facile in-situ vapor-induced hydrolyzation method followed by hydrophobic modification. This low mass-transfer-resistance membrane, composing of a mesoporous layer deposited onto macroporous substrate, was designed for biogas upgrading in gas-liquid membrane contactor (GLMC) application. The surface hydroxylation was introduced to facilitate the bridging of TiO 2 -SiO 2 nanoparticles and PVDF substrate, which resulted in a more coherent deposition of the fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer onto the substrate. The surface microstructure was fine-tuned by controlling the amount of doped Si precursor, forming an integrated mesoporous fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer. The resultant fTiO 2 -SiO 2 /PVDF composite hollow fiber membrane exhibited a tighter pore size of ~25 nm and a desired water contact angle of ~124°, which effectively prevented membrane wetting. The CO 2 absorption fluxes of 8.0 and 5.6 × 10 −3 mol m −2 s −1 were achieved due to the lower mass transfer resistance, by using 1 M of monoethanolamine (MEA) and sodium taurinate as absorbents with a liquid velocity of 0.25 m s −1 , respectively. The long-term stability test showed a good integrity between the fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer and the PVDF substrate after 31-days of GLMC operation. The main benefit is the robust fluorinated inorganic layer which exhibited strong chemical resistance and high hydrophobicity, thus preventing membrane damage and pore wetting. Overall, this work provides an insight into the preparation of high–performance inorganic/organic composite hollow fiber membranes for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal in GLMC application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas-liquid membrane contactor (GLMC) is a promising method to attain high efficiency for CO 2 capture from flue gas, biogas and natural gas. However, membranes used in GLMC are prone to pore wetting due to insufficient hydrophobicity and low chemical resistance, resulting in significant increase in mass transfer resistance. To mitigate this issue, inorganic-organic fluorinated titania/polyvinylidene fluoride (fTiO 2 /PVDF) composite hollow fiber (HF) membranes was prepared via facile in-situ vapor induced hydrolyzation method, followed by hydrophobic modification. The proposed composite membranes were expected to couple the superb chemical stability of inorganic and high permeability/low cost of organic materials. The continuous fTiO 2 layer deposited on top of PVDF substrate was found to possess a tighter microstructure and better hydrophobicity, which effectively prevented the membrane from wetting and lead to a high CO 2 absorption flux (12.7 × 10 −3  mol m −2  s −1 ). In a stability test with 21-day operation of GLMC using 1M monoethanolamine (MEA) as the absorbent, the fTiO 2 /PVDF membrane remained to be intact with a CO 2 absorption flux decline of ∼16%, while the pristine PVDF membrane suffered from a flux decline of ∼80% due to membrane damage. Overall, this work provides an insight into the preparation of high-quality inorganic/organic composite HF membranes for CO 2 capture in GLMC application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes were developed via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The effects of PTFE addition on the thermal behavior of the dope mixtures and membrane formation were investigated. It was found that the crystallization of PVDF was significantly enhanced with increased nucleation sites provided by PTFE particles, leading to promoted formation of smaller spherulites in a greater density. Furthermore, the improved uniformity and increased amount of cavity between the spherical crystallites coherently facilitated the formation of smaller pores ranging from 0.08 to 0.12 μm. With certain PTFE loading, the membranes exhibited improved porosity, water permeability and hydrophobicity as well as enhanced tensile strength of 9.4 ± 0.3 MPa. To examine the DCMD performance, the membranes were tested under various conditions using 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. A stable permeation flux of 28.3 kg m − 2 h − 1 at the feed temperature of 60 °C with 99.99% NaCl rejection for over 50 h of operation was achieved, which is comparable with similar type of PVDF membranes while the newly developed membrane exhibited better mechanical strength. This study suggests that the as-spun PVDF/PTFE hollow fiber membranes have potential for DCMD applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an innovative technique to yield osmotic energy. Nevertheless, the PRO performance is exacerbated by the severe membrane fouling occurring within the porous support. It is a potential alternative for sustainable power harvesting to change the membrane orientation from active layer facing draw solution (AL−DS) or PRO mode to active layer facing feed solution (AL−FS) or FO mode for a low-fouling propensity. A novel integral PRO hollow fiber membrane was developed in this work by phase inversion and followed with a facile cross-linking post-treatment. The structure and properties of the resultant membrane were systematically investigated using a series of characterization protocols. The PRO performance of the membrane was studied under various hydraulic pressures at the AL−FS orientation. The results reveal that the substrate with sponge-like structure and relatively dense inner surface can better withstand high pressure in PRO process. Two steps of cross-linking endowed the membrane with a smaller pore size on the outer surface that exhibits high rejection against various inorganic salts. The novel integral membrane can achieve a stable power density output around 4.3 W m −2 at 12 ~ 13 bar hydraulic pressure, using a real wastewater reverse osmosis (RO) retentate and 1.0 M sodium chloride as the feed and draw stream, correspondingly. This result demonstrates that the PRO operation in the AL−FS orientation (FO mode) offers a significant advantage over the AL−DS orientation (PRO mode) by eliminating the pretreatment of the feed water or/and other measures associated with membrane fouling control in the PRO mode. To implement the PRO operation with the AL−FS orientation, developing a robust membrane with an integral structure is critical. The newly developed integral hollow fiber membrane via chemical cross-linking presents the potential for PRO operation in the AL−FS orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging technology of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) has been intensely studied over the past decades due to its potential in harvesting salinity gradient energy, but membrane fouling can deteriorate the PRO performance. To mitigate membrane fouling, the outer surface of the inner-selective thin-film composite (TFC) polyetherimide (PEI) hollow fiber membrane was modified by depositing poly-(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly acrylic acid (PAA) polyelectrolytes. The results show that the outer surface of the modified membrane had less pores exposed and was more negatively charged, which was beneficial for preventing the entrance and adsorption of the negatively charged foulants into the membrane substrate. It was further proved that the modified membrane was effective in reducing PRO fouling by organic macromolecules such as alginate and bovine serum albumin, while maintaining the mechanical properties and intrinsic separation properties well. Interestingly, after 200 ppm alginate was introduced to the feed water, the power density of the modified membrane could be maintained constant at 16.2 W·m − 2 at 15 bar while that of the non-modified membrane reduced around 17% at the end of a 300-min testing period. The results suggest that the polyelectrolytes deposition is a feasible strategy for adding anti-fouling property to PRO membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant amount of methane (CH 4 ) produced from anaerobic digestions of wastewater is dissolved in liquid effluent and discharged. The recovery of dissolved CH 4 is therefore essential in ensuring an enhanced energy production of the anaerobic processes, and minimizing environmental impacts of the greenhouse gas. In this work, a membrane contactor is employed as a mass transfer equipment for the CH 4 recovery. A mathematical model considering simultaneous desorption of CH 4 and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is developed using a resistance-in-series model to calculate the overall mass transfer coefficients. The simulations were validated with experimental results obtained using an in-house fabricated hollow fiber membrane as well as a real effluent from Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) and synthetic effluent made of water saturated with biogas. Results showed that the CO 2 fluxes were higher than those of CH 4 fluxes due to its higher concentration in liquid phase. A decrease of liquid phase mass transfer resistance by an increase in liquid velocity significantly enhanced both CH 4 and CO 2 fluxes. While, an increase in gas velocity slightly affected the CH 4 flux but enhanced the CO 2 flux considerably. It was also found that the CO 2 desorption increased the CH 4 recovery rate. The desorbed CO 2 helped to increase the mass transfer driving force by reducing the partial pressure of CH 4 in the gas side, and enhancing the gas phase mass transfer coefficient to facilitate CH 4 desorption. The increase of liquid velocity increased mole fraction of CH 4 in the gas outlet but decreased the rate of CH 4 recovery. On the other hand, applying vacuum conditions to decrease gas pressure enhanced the rate of CH 4 recovery but lower the CH 4 mole fraction in the product gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthetic hormone, 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), has received much attention due to its widespread occurrence and adverse effects on aquatic animals. The removal of EE2 from water has been very challenging mostly because of its low concentration in environmental waters. Here we report a simple and novel approach for concentrating EE2 through adsorption and elution using microporous polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber membrane in a cross-flow filtration system, which can be easily scalable for practical applications. Our results showed that microporous PES hollow fiber membrane has a high EE2 adsorption capability (∼100% from water containing 20 μg/L of EE2) and the adsorbed EE2 could be eluted using a small volume of 10% ethanol solution to achieve a recovery efficiency of 75.9 ± 8.5%. We further demonstrated that the PES hollow fiber membrane maintained ∼100% removal of EE2 throughout five cycles of adsorption and elution. Our results from molecular simulation suggest that the strong affinity between PES and EE2 is mainly attributed to the π- π interaction and the hydrogen bonding. This proof-of-concept demonstrates for the first time that PES hollow fiber membrane system can remove EE2 at low concentrations, and elute EE2 solutions at a much higher concentration over multiple cycles in a sustainable and environmentally-benign condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the fouling behavior and chemical cleaning of forward osmosis (FO) membranes for treating produced/process water (PPW) from a real gas field using thin-film composite FO hollow fiber membranes. Experiments revealed that membrane fouling occurred during the PPW treatment, which hindered the water and solute transport through the membrane. The water permeability and FO reference water flux of the membrane decreased by 22.9% and 24.8%, respectively, after fouling. Membrane surface characterization was carried out, and the results indicated the deposition and entrapment of organic species on the membrane after the PPW treatment. The efficiencies of various cleaning agents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), ethylenediaminetetraacetic (EDTA) and NaOH, were evaluated. It was found that cleaning with SDS for 15 min is the most effective method for restoring water flux, and very stable FO performance can be obtained during batch treatment of PPW. The FO membrane can reduce the PPW volume by 50% at a relatively high average water flux of 15.6 L·m − 2 ·h − 1 in the active layer facing feed solution orientation using 1 M NaCl as draw solution (equivalent to the draw solution available in the field). This study demonstrates the great potential of FO technology for produced/process water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An acid-stable polyamine NF hollow fiber module was prepared for phosphorus recovery via the IP method. • Tannic acid interlayer was first constructed onto the PES substrate to assist the spreading of the aqueous phase. • The resultant NF membrane shows only 9.6% rejection of phosphorus, alongside over 93.5% rejection of metal ions at pH 2. • Membrane water permeability can reach 20.3 LMH/bar. The hazardous heavy metals coexisting with phosphorus-containing sewage sludge seriously limit phosphorus recovery. Nanofiltration (NF) membrane, which can selectively separate heavy metals and phosphorus, has a promising potential for recovering high-quality phosphorus from sewage sludge. In this work, we utilized the undissociated form of H 3 PO 4 at pH <2 and customized an acid-stable polyamine NF membrane via interfacial polymerization (IP) for separating phosphorus and heavy metals under acidic conditions. An interlayer formed via co-deposition of tannic acid (TA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) was firstly coated onto the polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber module to assist the spreading of aqueous phase on the substrate surface. Consequently, a tight and positively charged polyamine layer with a mean pore size of 0.77 nm was successfully constructed on the PES substrate, which is smaller than that of the membrane without interlayer (1.39 nm). This polyamine membrane maintained excellent stability during 15-day acid testing with 0.1 M HCl as feed solution. When it was used to recover phosphorus at acidic condition (pH 2), the phosphorus rejection of the NF membrane was only 9.8 %, much lower than that at neutral pH (46.7 %), which is due to the fact that most phosphorus existed in the undissociated form of H 3 PO 4 at pH 2. Meanwhile, given the fine-tuning pore size and Donnan exclusion effect of this membrane, it could effectively retain 96.9 % of Mg2+ and over 93.5 % of most heavy metal ions such as Pb2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Zn2+, and Cr3+, alongside outstanding water permeability of 20.3 LMH/bar at 2-bar operation pressure. This result demonstrates the potential of our homemade polyamine membrane in phosphorus recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Microfiltration PTFE hollow fibres were transformed into durable, high value OSN membranes. • A PEI/PIP based polyamide thin film was successfully synthesized on PTFE hollow fibre substrates. • A two-time interfacial polymerization was conducted to obtain a defect-free polyamide layer. • The resultant membranes could withstand strong aprotic solvents like DMF and DMSO. • The membranes had high solute rejections, of up to 95 % methyl orange (327 Da) rejection in DMF. Polymeric membranes have been extensively studied for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) but many fail to show sufficient chemical resistance in strong solvents like dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). This study focuses on harnessing the outstanding chemical resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), to develop polyamide-PTFE thin film composite (TFC) membranes that are resistant to such aprotic solvents. A defect-free polyamide thin film layer was successfully synthesized on the microfiltration PTFE hollow fibre substrates, overcoming challenges such as large and uneven pore size, and hydrophobicity of the PTFE substrates. A simple polydopamine (PDA) coating was carried out to improve the substrate's hydrophilicity prior to the polyamide synthesis via interfacial polymerization (IP). Polyethyleneimine (PEI) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) were used as the monomers and a two-time IP method was employed to obtain a defect-free polyamide coating. The synthesized membranes showed high acetonitrile (ACN) and DMF permeabilities of 7.94 and 3.70 lm−2h−1bar−1, respectively, with acid fuchsin (585 Da) rejections of > 90 %. The molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the membranes could be further reduced to ∼300 Da by the addition of piperazine (PIP) monomers. The membranes also showed excellent stability and performance in a 72-hour OSN test performed in DMF indicating their great potential in effective molecular separation in harsh solvents. This study demonstrates how a simple modification and coating technique can transform commercially available microfiltration PTFE hollow fibres into durable and high value OSN membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a promising energy harvesting technique. However, when polymeric hollow fiber membrane is used for the PRO process, the mechanical strength of the membrane is a big concern. As hollow fiber membrane is self-supported and due to its polymeric nature, it may gradually deform over time under high pressure loading, or membrane “creeping” will occur. Current work is the first attempt to analyze the membrane creeping phenomenon of a novel thin film composite (TFC) hollow fiber. The membrane creeping was evaluated via nanoindentation by using atomic force microscope (AFM). A non-stop 200-hour PRO test and integrity check, which have not been reported previously, were carried out to investigate the membrane performance under various operating pressures. The results show that the membrane is able to produce a stable power density output of 19.2 W/m 2 at 15.0 bar, using 1.0 M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed water. Membrane creeping was observed when the applied pressure exceeded the safe operation limit (or the flux turning point, where the membrane flux started to increase with increasing applied pressure in the PRO mode), which caused an irreversible damage to the membranes. This study identified safe and optimum operation conditions of the laboratory-made PRO hollow fiber membrane to achieve the most favorable PRO performance. It provides guidance for practical applications of polymeric hollow fiber membranes in PRO process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its toxicity to ecosystem, phenol removal from industrial wastewater before discharge is a priority concern. Extractive membrane bioreactor (EMBR), a novel wastewater treatment process combining aqueous–aqueous extractive membrane process and biodegradation, has shown potential in treating phenol in wastewater. In this paper, composite hollow fiber membranes with different levels of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) intrusion were prepared by coating a layer of PDMS on a Polyetherimide (PEI) hollow fiber substrate. Their applicability to EMBR for phenol removal was studied. The prepared membranes were characterized by microscopy and gas permeation test, and their performances were evaluated in aqueous–aqueous extractive membrane processes and EMBR process. The overall mass transfer coefficient for phenol, or k 0 , was found to be significantly affected by the level of PDMS intrusion in the composite membranes. This is because the penetration of PDMS into the porous substrate results in a denser membrane structure, which consequently increases the membrane resistance. A slight penetration of PDMS into the substrate was found to be necessary for the composite membranes to achieve high k 0 while maintaining low inorganic flux across the membranes. Wilson-plot analysis suggests that membrane resistance dominated over liquid boundary layer resistances. After more than 250 h of EMBR operation, significant biofilm growth was observed on the composite membranes and the k 0 was dropped but stabilized at around 7.5×10 −7 m/s. This k 0 was 7.5 times higher than commercial PDMS tubular membranes (without biofilm development) reported in previous studies, confirming the superiority of thin film composite membranes prepared in this work. It was also found that process optimization to control biofilm thickness is important in order to enhance phenol removal rate in EMBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel composite forward osmosis (FO) hollow fiber membranes with two selective skin layers were developed in the present work. The polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber substrate was firstly fabricated by a phase inversion method. The RO-like polyamide skin layer was then prepared on the inner surface of the hollow fiber substrate via interfacial polymerization (IP), while the NF-like outer skin layer was prepared via polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly. Three double-skinned membranes with negative (DS#1.5), positive (DS#2.0) and minimal (DS#2.5) outer surface charges under neutral pH environment were evaluated for their capabilities against organic fouling in the FO process. The newly developed double-skinned membranes possess water permeability greater than 2 l/m 2 h bar and NaCl rejection higher than 95% under 2 bar pressure, and have superior water flux and less salt leakage than the commercial HTI FO membranes as well as all the reported double-skinned FO membranes with RO-like selective layers. Most importantly, the double-skinned DS#2.5 hollow fiber membrane exhibits exciting organic fouling resistance because of its highly hydrophilic NF-like secondary layer with minimal surface charge and tightened surface structure to mitigate possible substrate pore clogging and fouling layer formation. A stable water flux of around 25 l/m 2 h was attained for DS#2.5 membrane using <0.5 M NaCl as the draw solution and a water containing 200 ppm dextran (DEX) or Aldrich humic acid (AHA), or lysozyme (LYS) and 10 mM NaCl as the model feed in the active layer against the draw solution (AL-DS) configuration, suggesting its great potential for practical FO applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the self-assembly of rare-earth Anderson polyoxometalates (POMs) on the surfaces of imide polymeric hollow fiber membranes was designed for fabrication of novel POMs-functionalized interfacial composite membranes. The rare-earth Anderson POM ([Gd(H 2 O) 7 Cr(OH) 6 Mo 6 O 18 ] n ) nanoparticles with controllable size and distribution were successfully constructed. Experimental results revealed that the self-assembly was a surface-induced growth process. The silanol groups on the membrane surfaces generated by the (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane pretreatment were essential for the self-assembly process because of the potential hydrogen bonding ( OH⋯POMs) and coordination bonding ( OH Gd) interactions. This work provided a simple but practical method not only for the fabrication of novel POMs-functionalized membranes, but also for the synthesis of POMs nanoarchitectures. In addition, the potential application of the as-prepared POMs-functionalized hollow fiber membranes in degradation of organic pollutant has also been explored. The idea of interfacial membrane contactor has been utilized for the catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol under mild conditions. A three-phase (gas/catalyst/liquid) interface was successfully built up, which enhanced the catalytic efficiency. It is anticipated that these novel POMs-functionalized membranes can promisingly be used as catalytic membrane contactors for wastewater treatment under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of nanotechnology in water separation membranes is a promising approach to alleviate the global water crisis. Graphene oxide (GO) with its unique water transport property has exhibited high potential for application in the water treatment processes. In this study, we have designed and fabricated a novel nanofiltration (NF)-like GO surface deposited poly(amide-imide)–polyethyleneimine (PAI–PEI) hollow fiber membrane. The PAI hollow fiber substrate was prepared by phase inversion and modified with PEI to obtain a positively charged membrane surface. The negatively charged GO nanosheets were then electrostatically immobilized onto the membrane surface via an instant dip-coating to form the NF-like selective layer. Our results have shown that the GO nanosheets serve as effective selective barriers and can achieve higher water permeability up to 86% without compromising membrane selectivity when used to substitute part of the PEI cross-linked selective layer. This is attributed to the smaller hydrodynamic resistance of GO nanosheets and their ability to effectively narrow the pore size distribution. Moreover, shortening of the membrane modification time and better mechanical properties of the GO modified membrane can be attained by avoiding excessive PEI cross-linking. The GO deposition also exhibits good stability when subjected to a backwashing pressure of 100,000 Pa and a cross-flow rate of 600 mL/min, which corresponds to a velocity of 14 cm/s and a Reynolds number of ~870. These results have demonstrated a high potential of using this GO modified hollow fiber membrane for large scale water softening applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaporins are water channel proteins with high permeability and solute rejection, making them ideal components for the preparation of desalination biomimetic membranes. In one strategy, E. coli aquaporin Z (AqpZ) proteoliposomes are immobilized in a polyamide layer formed by interfacial polymerization at the inner surface of hollow fibers. However, once polymerization occurs, the system is almost a black box where it is difficult to disentangle the relative contribution to performance of (i) water permeation through AqpZ channels and (ii) the possible modification of the properties or structure of the polymer layer by the mere presence of protein and lipid. Indeed, the fate of protein and lipid once the polymer is formed, and how much of it is actually used, is under debate. Also, the performance of these modules has been reported to be stable over several months. This is intriguing because of the expected degradation of functional AqpZ and lipid with time. Herein, we used lipid and AqpZ, both fluorescently labeled, to unequivocally localize both components only at the inner surface of the hollow fibers. To characterize module performance, we tested about 30 half-inch modules containing five hollow fibers each. Those reconstituted with wild type AqpZ produced higher permeability (∼8.5 ± 0.9 LMH/bar) than those reconstituted with AqpZ mutant (R189A) (∼5.6 ± 1.7 LMH/bar) or lipid-only liposomes (3.7 ± 1.1 LMH/bar). However, while these differences are significant, they are smaller than expected from the comparison of relative permeabilities of membranes incorporating wild-type AqpZ, R189A mutant and only-lipid. In addition, we show that in a five-month long experiment, performance of two of these modules showed only minor deterioration, if any, which is not consistent with the observed rapid degradation of proteoliposomes at room temperature. Overall, these data obtained in this set-up suggests that although both AqpZ and lipid are localized at the inner of the hollow fibers, they mainly behave as additives that modify the properties of the robust polyamide layer. A small contribution of AqpZ channel activity to module performance is possible, but to be significant it would require full coverage and a higher protein density in the proteoliposomes, which at present cannot be achieved in the current protocol. [Display omitted] • Thirty half-inch modules (5 hollow fibers each) were tested. • Fluorescent lipid and AqpZ are only found co-localized with the IP layer. • Modules perform better with wild type AqpZ than with R189A inactive mutant. • Module performance does not directly correlate with proteoliposome permeability. • Long-term module performance is inconsistent with degradation of proteoliposomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultra-permeable membranes (UPMs) are expected to reduce the specific energy consumption (SEC) of desalination, but the potential of UPMs in hollow fiber configuration has not been well quantified. Herein, we analyse the SEC and footprints of UPM modules in three feed salinities: seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), brackish water RO (BWRO) and low-pressure RO (LPRO). Through the modelling the fluid dynamics and mass transport of RO systems, we find that a tripling in spiral-wound SWRO membrane permeability (based on the current value of 1 L m−2 h−1 bar−1; LMH/bar) could result in 16% decrease in SEC. Contrastingly, the quadrupling of hollow fiber SWRO membrane permeability (based on the current value of 0.25 LMH/bar) could reduce the SEC by 23%. According to our analysis, hollow fiber and spiral-wound SWRO membranes with permeabilities up to 1 LMH/bar and 3 LMH/bar, respectively, can reduce the SEC of seawater desalination. On the other hand, membranes with permeabilities up to 9 LMH/bar and 12 LMH/bar can lead to SEC savings in BWRO and LPRO desalination, respectively. This study provides a general guidance to RO membrane researchers on the permeability upper-limit of which UPMs could bring about SEC and footprint savings at a system level. [Display omitted] • Energy savings achievable by high permeability RO membranes were quantified. • Modelling was performed by simulating fluid dynamics in various RO configurations. • Hollow fiber SWRO membranes (up to 1 LMH/bar) could reduce energy consumption. • Spiral-wound SWRO membranes (up to 3 LMH/bar) could reduce energy consumption. • High permeability RO membranes could bring about greater benefits in BWRO/LPRO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scaled-up hollow fibre thin-film composite (TFC) module was successfully developed for organic solvent forward osmosis (OSFO) application in the pharmaceutical industry. The membrane consists of cross-linked P84 polyimide substrate with a polyamide selective layer, formed via interfacial polymerisation. The performance of the lab-scale module was compared to the scaled-up module in reverse osmosis and forward osmosis modes. The results from both tests revealed that the solvent permeability of the scaled-up module decreased while its selectivity increased slightly. This might be caused by the uneven distribution of liquids during interfacial polymerisation, leading to varied membrane performance. The scaled-up module was further tested for OSFO performance using a range of PEG-400 concentrations (0.5–2 M) in acetone and isopropanol as draw solutions. At 2 M PEG-400 concentration, the module demonstrated high isopropanol and acetone permeability of 0.63 LMH and 13.9 LMH, respectively. Moreover, the reverse solute flux of PEG-400 in acetone and isopropanol were relatively low at 0.188 g/l and 0.153 g/l, respectively. The module was further tested for OSFO application in the pharmaceutical industry by concentrating levofloxacin in acetone, using 2 M PEG-400 as draw solution. The process was able to concentrate levofloxacin from 1000 ppm to 16,000 ppm with very low reverse solute flux of 0.178 g/l. Therefore, this work presents a scalable TFC membrane for OSFO application in the pharmaceutical industry. [Display omitted] • Scaled-up module (0.4 m2) of TFC hollow fibre membrane for organic solvent forward osmosis process was successfully fabricated. • High porosity (79%) and low structural parameter (217 μm) for membrane substrate was achieved. • Membrane exhibited excellent acetone and IPA solvent flux of 13.9 LMH and 0.63 LMH, respectively, using a 2 M PEG-400 draw solution. • A pharmaceutical stream was concentrated to a factor of 16 with low specific reverse solute flux [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scaled-up hollow fibre thin-film composite (TFC) module was successfully developed for organic solvent forward osmosis (OSFO) application in the pharmaceutical industry. The membrane consists of cross-linked P84 polyimide substrate with a polyamide selective layer, formed via interfacial polymerisation. The performance of the lab-scale module was compared to the scaled-up module in reverse osmosis and forward osmosis modes. The results from both tests revealed that the solvent permeability of the scaled-up module decreased while its selectivity increased slightly. This might be caused by the uneven distribution of liquids during interfacial polymerisation, leading to varied membrane performance. The scaled-up module was further tested for OSFO performance using a range of PEG-400 concentrations (0.5–2 M) in acetone and isopropanol as draw solutions. At 2 M PEG-400 concentration, the module demonstrated high isopropanol and acetone permeability of 0.63 LMH and 13.9 LMH, respectively. Moreover, the reverse solute flux of PEG-400 in acetone and isopropanol were relatively low at 0.188 g/l and 0.153 g/l, respectively. The module was further tested for OSFO application in the pharmaceutical industry by concentrating levofloxacin in acetone, using 2 M PEG-400 as draw solution. The process was able to concentrate levofloxacin from 1000 ppm to 16,000 ppm with very low reverse solute flux of 0.178 g/l. Therefore, this work presents a scalable TFC membrane for OSFO application in the pharmaceutical industry. [Display omitted] • Scaled-up module (0.4 m2) of TFC hollow fibre membrane for organic solvent forward osmosis process was successfully fabricated. • High porosity (79%) and low structural parameter (217 μm) for membrane substrate was achieved. • Membrane exhibited excellent acetone and IPA solvent flux of 13.9 LMH and 0.63 LMH, respectively, using a 2 M PEG-400 draw solution. • A pharmaceutical stream was concentrated to a factor of 16 with low specific reverse solute flux [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes are generally preferred over integrally skinned asymmetric (ISA) membranes in pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process due to their much higher water permeability, but they cannot operate in the active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS) orientation because of potential delamination of the rejection layer under the high applied pressure. However, operating under AL-FS orientation is preferred as a strategy for better fouling control. Hence, in this study, three ISA hollow fiber membranes were fabricated using a dry-jet wet-spinning method, followed by chemical cross-linking to obtain membranes for PRO application. The best-performing membrane was subjected to fouling test in two orientations. Our results demonstrate that the AL-FS orientation is better for a sustainable long-term PRO operation, given the stable performance throughout the two-day testing. Also, the current use of power density per membrane area as a performance benchmark may not be practical for large-scale PRO operation, and the volumetric power density per module is more relevant. In terms of volumetric power density for a hypothetical 5-in. module, our best-performing membrane is predicted to generate a 3.6 to 10 times better power density than commercial modules, rendering our ISA hollow fiber membranes promising for scaling-up to bigger modules. [Display omitted] • Operating under AL-FS orientation is preferred as a strategy for better fouling control. • Integrally skinned asymmetric hollow fiber membranes were developed for AL-FS orientation in PRO. • The membranes achieved sustainable power production when wastewater was employed. • The volumetric power density was predicted to yield promising solution for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes are generally preferred over integrally skinned asymmetric (ISA) membranes in pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process due to their much higher water permeability, but they cannot operate in the active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS) orientation because of potential delamination of the rejection layer under the high applied pressure. However, operating under AL-FS orientation is preferred as a strategy for better fouling control. Hence, in this study, three ISA hollow fiber membranes were fabricated using a dry-jet wet-spinning method, followed by chemical cross-linking to obtain membranes for PRO application. The best-performing membrane was subjected to fouling test in two orientations. Our results demonstrate that the AL-FS orientation is better for a sustainable long-term PRO operation, given the stable performance throughout the two-day testing. Also, the current use of power density per membrane area as a performance benchmark may not be practical for large-scale PRO operation, and the volumetric power density per module is more relevant. In terms of volumetric power density for a hypothetical 5-in. module, our best-performing membrane is predicted to generate a 3.6 to 10 times better power density than commercial modules, rendering our ISA hollow fiber membranes promising for scaling-up to bigger modules. [Display omitted] • Operating under AL-FS orientation is preferred as a strategy for better fouling control. • Integrally skinned asymmetric hollow fiber membranes were developed for AL-FS orientation in PRO. • The membranes achieved sustainable power production when wastewater was employed. • The volumetric power density was predicted to yield promising solution for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification is an attractive waste-to-energy (WTE) technology with promise for future solid waste management, owing to the production of syngas which can be used as an alternative energy resource. However, quality of produced syngas is not meeting expectation. One promising solution is to use oxygen-enriched gas (OEG) to elevate produced syngas quality but producing OEG is costly. Herein, we demonstrated an asymmetric defect-free hollow fiber membrane made up of Matrimid® 5218 polyimide for scaling-up to 2-inch membrane modules. Our modules have an effective surface area up to 2.6 m2 with a packing density of up to 44% to produce OEG of 45% O 2 purity. The 2-inch membrane module was integrated into a lab-scale gasification process to produce syngas using refuse derived fuel (RDF) generated from MSWs collected from the university campus. Prior to this, the lab-scale gasification was first optimized by tuning the gasification temperature, O 2 purity and equivalence ratio (ER). Then, MSW gasification using membrane-based OEG was carried out, and compared against air gasification and synthetic OEG of the same O 2 purity. Our results showed that, at O 2 purity of 45%, gasification temperature of 900 °C and ER of 0.15, the quality of produced syngas was elevated with a lower heating value (LHV) of 9.15 MJ/m3 and H 2 /CO ratio of 1.43, which was substantially higher than air gasification with LHV and H 2 /CO ratio reported at 5.38 MJ/m3 and 0.81, respectively. Gasification results for membrane-based OEG and synthetic OEG were also comparable, while process simulation evidence suggested that membrane-based separation was at least 2-fold less energy-intensive than cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption. Overall, this proof-of-concept successfully demonstrates the viability and competitiveness of membrane process for producing OEG at medium O 2 purity (i.e. , 40–50%) to support MSW gasification for WTE conversion. [Display omitted] • Hollow fiber membrane modules with up to 2.6 m2 surface area were developed. • OEG with O 2 purity of c.a. 45% can be produced at close to 2 L/min flow rate. • Membrane-based OEG gasification produces syngas with 70% higher LHV as that of air gasification. • Membrane-based OEG produces syngas with comparable LHV as that of synthetic OEG. • Simulation shows that membrane separation is less energy-intensive for producing OEG of medium purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 100-piece hollow fibre thin-film composite membrane module was successfully developed for pharmaceutical concentration and solvent recovery. To increase its packing density, thinner P84 polyimide hollow fibre substrates were spun using a smaller spinneret. The substrates were subsequently cross-linked with hexamethylene diamine to achieve organic solvent resistance. An MPD-based thin-film composite was synthesized through interfacial polymerisation to increase selectivity for solutes of less than 300 Da. The thin-film composite was then solvent-activated using N , N -dimethylformamide to increase its solvent permeability. The resulting membrane exhibited excellent performance with 24.2 l m−2 h−1 bar−1 acetone permeability and 90.1% methyl red (269 Da) rejection. In addition, the solvent-activated membrane maintained its performance for prolonged period, demonstrating the scalability of the thin-film composite fabrication process and stability of solvent-activated membranes. The membrane was also able to concentrate levofloxacin (361 Da) from 500 ppm to 20,000 ppm in acetone using a batch process, showing promising results for pharmaceutical applications. Image 1 • 100-piece thin-film composite OSN membrane was successfully fabricated. • 7-day filtration test showed stable organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) performance. • High acetone permeability of 24.2 l m−2 h−1 bar−1 and 90.1% methyl red rejection. • Active pharmaceutical ingredient was concentrated to 2 wt%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of amphiphilic copolymer Pluronic F127 as an additive has shown effectiveness in fabricating polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with excellent antifouling properties due to its roles in enhancing pore structure and surface hydrophilicity. However, F127 was found to be unstable in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes as its hydrophilic modifying function was deactivated over time. In present work, we developed a novel approach to immobilize F127 in PVDF hollow fiber membranes using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles as a binding agent through the combined nonsolvent and thermally induced phase separation (N-TIPS) method. The results suggest that the hydrophobic segment of F127 could adsorb firmly onto PTFE with the hydrophilic segments protruding outwards. The dual-functions of F127 were observed in pore formation and surface hydrophilization for PVDF membranes. The water contact angle of PVDF/PTFE/F127 membranes decreased from 102 ± 4° to 76 ± 3° compared with membranes without additives. The resultant membranes possess a pure water permeability (PWP) of 869 ± 39 L m−2h−1bar−1 with a mean pore size of 0.09 ± 0.01 μm and an outstanding tensile strength of 7.0 ± 0.3 MPa, suggesting the potential of N-TIPS method for tuning the membrane pore structure and hydrophilicity by using multifunctional additives. Image 1 • PTFE or Pluronic-F127 could effectively help tailor bulk and surface properties of PVDF membranes through N-TIPS method. • The instability of F127 in PVDF membranes was significantly relieved in the presence of PTFE. • The mediating effect of PTFE allowed F127 to be a pore-former and surface hydrophilic modifier for PVDF membranes. • The prepared PVDF/PTFE/F127 membranes possess a narrower pore size distribution. • The membrane has improved porosity, tensile strength, hydrophilicity and antifouling property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocatalytic nanofiltration (NF) membranes incorporated with enzymes show high capacity for micropollutants (MPs) removal. However, there remains significant challenges such as the lack of molecular-level tailoring for skin layer design and effective strategy for enzyme immobilization. In this work, layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly based biocatalytic NF membranes were fabricated for bisphenol (BPA) removal by immobilizing laccase into the skin layer during the LBL polyelectrolytes assembly with controlled crosslinking and immobilization. This strategy enables simultaneous enzyme immobilization and NF skin layer formation. Three laccase immobilization strategies (i.e. , post immobilization, post crosslinking, and post crosslinking and immobilization) on skin layer were explored to prepare NF membrane for evaluating BPA removal efficiency. The post immobilization was identified as the optimal strategy, which endowed the biocatalytic NF membrane with a pure water permeability of 10.9 ± 0.4 LMH/bar and MgCl 2 rejection of 97.2 ± 0.3% under 2 bar pressure, alongside competitive laccase loading (238.8 ± 3.5 μg/cm2) and laccase activity (0.6 U/cm2). The optimal biocatalytic NF membrane exhibited an improvement in BPA removal of 79.5% under an incubation mode and 92.5% under a full recycling mode. The removal efficiencies were ~240% higher than that of the unmodified LBL membrane and clearly comparable to other reported biocatalytic membranes. This performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of membrane rejection, adsorption and laccase catalysis. The optimal biocatalytic NF membrane was found to be robust after six cycles within 14 days, while maintaining a relatively high BPA removal efficiency and salt rejection. Overall, our results open up a new avenue for enzyme immobilization into the skin layer of membranes for designing high-efficient biocatalytic NF membranes for MPs removal. Image 1 • Laccase-decorated LBL skin layer is prepared on lumen side of hollow fiber membrane. • Effects of different laccase immobilization strategies on BPA removal are explored. • Post immobilization strategy endows the membrane with a competitive NF performance. • Desired BPA removal efficiency is achieved with optimal biocatalytic membrane. • The long-term reusability and stability for BPA removal are confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External concentration polarization (ECP) remains a pervasive challenge for submerged forward osmosis (FO) systems, as it critically reduces the water flux of membranes. In this study, we propose to use transverse vibration on hollow fiber membranes to effectively reduce the ECP and increase the FO water flux performance. The effects of different vibrating amplitude and frequency were investigated. Also, the vibration effect was evaluated under different draw solution concentrations, membrane orientations and draw solute types. Our results show increased water flux with increasing vibrating intensity (i.e., amplitude and frequency) while maintaining a constant specific reverse solute flux (J s /J w). At the highest amplitude (1.2 cm) and frequency (3 Hz) used, the mass transfer coefficient is increased from 0.7 × 10−5 m s−1 (at no vibration) to 1.8 × 10−5 m s−1, which falls within the optimal flux range as determined from our FO modelling results. The increment in mass transfer coefficient is found to be closely related to the improved hydrodynamic conditions due to vibration, and less dependent on the membrane orientation and draw solution concentration. In addition, both modelling and experimental results show that maintaining a reasonably high mass transfer coefficient is especially important for FO process with severe ECP conditions, such as when dilutive ECP is present (i.e., active-layer-facing-feed-solution orientation) or when a high water flux is applied (usually in the active-layer-facing-draw-solution orientation). However, the severe ECP arising from large draw solutes (e.g., larger sized polymer with low diffusivity and high viscosity) might not gain greater benefits from the vibration or improved hydrodynamic conditions. Image 1 • Transverse vibration can mitigate ECP and improve flux in submerged FO processes. • Increasing vibration intensity increases mass transfer coefficient at membrane surface. • Maintaining a high mass transfer coefficient is important for severe ECP conditions. • Severe ECP resulting from large draw solutes cannot gain more benefits from vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamide thin film membranes have shown outstanding performance in organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). However, it is still challenging to produce polyamide hollow fibres for OSN, mainly due to limited solvent resistance of hollow fibre substrates and the difficulty to synthesize polyamide thin film on the surface of hollow fibre substrates. In this study, polyamide-based hollow fibre composite members for low pressure OSN were successfully developed. Solvent resistant polyimide hollow fibre substrates were first prepared through a non-solvent induced phase separation process, followed by chemical cross-linking with hexamethylene diamine. A polyamide thin film layer was then synthesized via interfacial polymerization, by circulating the reactant monomers including polyethyleneimine (PEI), piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) through the hollow fibre lumen. The polyamide thin film with a thickness of ~60 nm was formed on the inner surface of the hollow fibre substrates. The membranes exhibited excellent nanofiltration (NF) performance under 2 bar operating pressure. The permeability of water, acetone and isopropanol was 6.8, 11.6 and 4.5 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, respectively. The membranes also achieved 99.9% and 91.8% rejection to rose bengal (1017 Da) and acid fuchsin (585 Da), respectively, in acetone. Furthermore, a 72-h filtration test was conducted and the membrane showed steady performance throughout the testing period. This study demonstrates the possibility of fabricating polyamide hollow fibre membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration at low pressure, which is desirable for practical applications. • Solvent resistant polyimide hollow fibre membranes were fabricated through chemical cross-linking. • Polyamide-based (PEI/PIP) layer was formed onto polyimide substrate to obtain a relatively loose selective layer. • Membranes achieved 11.6 and 4.5 l m−2 h−1 bar−1 permeability in acetone and isopropanol at 2 bar respectively. • Membranes maintained more than 90% rejection for acid fuchsin in 72-h filtration test, showing stable OSN performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]