• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2019

To investigate surface properties and interception performances of the new modified PVDF membrane coated with Graphene Oxide (GO) and nano-$TiO_2$ (for short the modified membrane) via the interface polymerization method combined with the pumping suction filtration way, filtration experiments of the modified membrane on Humic Acid (HA) were conducted. Results showed that the contact angle (characterizing the hydrophilicity) of the modified membrane decreased from $80.6{\pm}1.8^{\circ}$ to $38.6{\pm}1.2^{\circ}$. The F element of PVDF membrane surface decreased from 60.91% to 17.79% after covered with GO and $TiO_2$. O/C element mass ratio has a fivefold increase, the percentage of O element on the modified membrane surface increased from 3.83 wt% to 20.87%. The modified membrane surface was packed with hydrophilic polar groups (like -COOH, -OH, C-O, C=O, N-H) and a functional hydrophilic GO-polyamide-$TiO_2$ composite configuration. This configuration provided a rigid network structure for the firm attachment of GO and $TiO_2$ on the surface of the membrane and for a higher flux as well. The total flux attenuation rate of the modified membrane decreased to 35.6% while 51.2% for the original one. The irreversible attenuation rate has dropped 71%. The static interception amount of HA on the modified membrane was $158.6mg/m^2$, a half of that of the original one ($295.0mg/m^2$). The flux recovery rate was increased by 50%. The interception rate of the modified membrane on HA increased by 12% approximately and its filtration cycle was 2-3 times of that of the original membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2010

During the disinfection of potable water, humic substances present in the solution react with chlorine to form potential carcinogenic compounds. This study evaluates the feasibility of using a submerged membrane photocatalysis reactor (SMPR) process for treatment of humic substances through the characterization of both organic removal efficiency and membrane hydraulic performance. A simple SMPR was operated and led to the removal of up to 83% of the polluting humic matters. Temporal rates of organic removal and membrane fouling were found to decrease with filtration time. Using tighter membrane in the hybrid process resulted in not only higher organic removal, but also more significant membrane fouling. Under the experimental conditions tested, optimum $TiO_2$ concentration for humic removal was found to be 0.6 g/L, and increasing initial pollutant concentration expectedly resulted in a more substantial membrane fouling. The importance of the influent nature and pollutant characteristics in this type of treatment was also assessed as various water sources were tested (model humic acid solution vs. local water containing natural organic matters). Results from this study revealed the promising nature of the SMPR process as an alternative technique for organic removal in the existing water treatment system.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2016

The Chlor-alkali (CA) membrane cell is a major electrolysis system to produce valued chemicals such as chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide. The CA membrane process has been attracted in the industries, since it has relatively low energy consumption when compared with other CA processes. The key component in CA process is perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer membranes, which provide ion-selectivity and barrier properties to produced gases. Unfortunately, there is limited information to determine which factors should be satisfied for CA applications. In this study, the influences of PFSA membranes on CA performances are disclosed. They include ion transport behaviors, gas evolution capability, and chemical/electrochemical resistances under CA operation conditions.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.11-21
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• 2001

The focus of this paper is on the numerical investigation of obliquely incident wav interactions with a system composed of fully submerged and floating dual buoy/vertical-flexible-membrane breakwaters placed in parallel with spacing between two systems. The fully submerged two systems allow surface and bottom gaps to enable wave transmission over and under the system. The problem is formulated based on the two-dimensional multi-domain hydro-elastic linear wave-body interaction theory. The hydrodynamic interaction of oblique incident waves with the combination of the rigid and flexible bodies was solved by the distribution of the simple sources (modified Bessel function of the second kind) that satisfy the Helmholz governing equation in fluid domains. A boundary element program for three fluid domains based on a discrete membrane dynamic model and simple source distribution method is developed. Using this developed computer program, the performance of various dual systems varying buoy radiuses and drafts, membrane lengths, gaps, spacing, mooring-lines stiffness, mooring types, water depth, and wave characteristics is thoroughly examined. It is found that the fully submerged and floating dual buoy/membrane breakwaters can, if it is properly tuned to the coming waves, have good performances in reflecting the obliquely incident waves over a wide range of wave frequency and headings.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Thin pore-filled cation and anion-exchange membranes (PFCEM and PFAEMs, $t_m=25-30{\mu}m$) were prepared using a porous polymeric substrate for efficient all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). The electrochemical and charge-discharge performances of the membranes have been systematically investigated and compared with those of commercially available ion-exchange membranes. The pore-filled membranes were shown to have higher permselectivity as well as lower electrical resistances than those of the commercial membranes. In addition, the VRBs employing the pore-filled membranes exhibited the respectable charge-discharge performances, showing the energy efficiencies (EE) of 82.4% and 84.9% for the PFCEM and PFAEM, respectively (cf. EE = 87.2% for Nafion 1135). The results demonstrated that the pore-filled ion-exchange membranes could be successfully used in VRBs as an efficient separator by replacing expensive Nafion membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.463-469
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• 2016

In this research, a new expectation in enhancing the PES (polyethersulfone) polymer phase inversion membrane performances with nanoparticles is proposed by using ZnO. This paper investigated the synthesis of PES phase inversion membranes including ZnO nanoparticles and evaluates the performance of these mixed matrix membranes. The PES-ZnO mixed matrix membranes were fabricated by phase inversion method using the PES-ZnO-NMP(N-methyl-1-pyrrolidone) casting solutions with low ZnO nanoparticles content of 0.375 wt%. The influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the characteristics of PES-ZnO mixed matrix membranes was investigated with scanning electron microscope observations of membrane cross-sections, contact angle measurements, tensile strength measurements, pure water flux measurements and ultrafiltration experiments of BSA solution. Those results showed that the performance advancements in comparison with the pure PES membrane without ZnO in terms of increasing hydrophilicity as well as reducing membrane fouling by adding ZnO nanoparticles even in low concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2008

A Pt-layer was deposited on the anode side of a Nafion membrane via a sputtering method in order to reduce methanol crossover in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The methanol permeation and the proton conductivity through the modified membranes were investigated. The performances of the direct methanol fuel cell were also tested using single cells with a Nafion membrane and the modified membranes. The Pt-layers on the membrane blocked both methanol crossover and proton transport through the membranes. Methanol permeability and proton conductivity decreased with an increase of the platinum layer thickness. At methanol concentration of 2 M, the DMFC employing the modified membrane with a platinum layer of 66 nm-thickness showed similar performance to that of a DMFC with a bare Nafion membrane in spite of the lower proton conductivity of the former. The maximum power density of the cell using the modified membrane with a platinum layer of 66 nm-thickness increased slightly while that of the cell with the bare membrane decreased abruptly when a methanol solution of 6M was supplied.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.155-160
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• 2004

Permeation experiments of a commercial nanofiltration membrane (nominated as ESNA 1) were carried out with aqueous solutions of various single salts, that is, five chlorides (NH$_4$Cl, NaCl, KCl, MgCl$_2$ and $CaCl_2$), three nitrates $(NaNo_3,\;Mg(No_3)_2\;and\;Ca(NO_3)_2)\;and\;three\;sulfates\;((NH_4)_2SO_4,\;Na_2SO_4\;and\;MgSO_4)$. The experimental results showed that (1) the permeate volume flux of the ESNA 1 membrane increased and decreased with the growth of the applied pressure and the feed concentration of salts, respectively. The real rejection of ESNA 1 membrane to most single salts increased with the growth of the permeate volume flux. (2) The reflection coefficients of ESNA 1 membrane to chlorides, nitrates and sulfates are 0.97, 0.96 and 0.99, respectively. The solute permeability of most salts except for magnesium and calcium salts increased with the growth of feed concentration. (3) The sequence of the rejections of ESNA 1 membrane to anions is $R({SO_4}^{2-})>R(CI)>R(NO_3)$ at the same feed concentration. While the sequence of the rejections to cations is cataloged into two cases: $R(Na^+)>R(K^+)>R(Mg^{2+})>R(Ca^{2+})$ at the concentration of 10 mol/$m^3$ and $R(Mg^{2+})>R(Ca^{2+})>R(Na^+)>R(K^+)$ at the concentration of 100 mol/$m^3$. The separation capability of a NF membrane is usually affected by the electrostatic effect and the steric-hindrance effect. In this case, the electrostatic effect is the major factor at low concentration and the steric-hindrance effect is the major factor at high concentration. Both the specific sorption and the hydration also reasonably influenced the separation performance of NF membrane to salts.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.43-47
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• 1999

Pd-ceramic composite membranes and catalytic membrane reactors(CMR) have been studied for hydrogen purification and recovery in th fusion reactor fuel cycle. The development of techniques for coating microporous ceramic tubes with Pd and Pd/Ag layers is described: composite membranes have been produced by electroless deposition (Pd/Ag film of 10-20${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) and rolling of thin metal sheet (Pd and Pd/ Ag membranes of 50-70 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$). Experimental results on electroless membranes showed that the metallic film presented some defects and the membranes had not complete hydrogen selectivity . Then the catalytic membrane reactors with electroless membranes can be applied for some industrial processes that do not require a complete separation of the hydrogen (i.e. in the dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons). The rolled thin Pd/Ag membranes separated the hydrogen from the other gas with a complete selectivity and exhibited a slightly larger (about a factor 1.7) mass transfer resistance with respect to the electroless membranes. Experimental tests confirmed the good performances in terms of durability.