Biofouling Behavior on Forward Osmosis Using Vertically Aligned CNT Membrane on Alumina
Volume 16, Issue 2, Spring 2019, Pages 1-13
M.R Omidkhah, H. Azami, L. Ghaheri
Abstract Nowadays, forward osmosis (FO) with many advantages in water treatment, are so attractive for researchers and investigators that the studies are going to optimize and increase its efficiency. However one of the most controversial operating malfunctions of FO process is fouling that limits the FO global application. In the following research, vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) on alumina membrane is introduced with high water permeability and less biofouling potential in forward osmosis for seawater osmotically dilution systems. VACNT membranes were prepared via pyrolysis of polymer into the pores of alumina. The effect of the temperature of pyrolysis process on CNT’s structure are assessed which indicated crystallinity of the CNTs increase in higher pyrolysis temperature of 800 °C. A small scale setup is designed for FO analysis and measurements of biofouling, flux and the effect of osmotic pressure were measured. Furthermore, all analysis were compared with commercial TFC membrane and results demonstrated that VACNT membrane has 40% less biofouling potential and 2 times better flux results.
Interior Modification of Nano-Porous Fillers to Fabricate High Performance Mixed Matrix Membranes
Volume 16, Issue 2, Spring 2019, Pages 70-94
H. Sanaeepur, A. Ebadi Amooghin, A. Kargari, Mohammadreza Omidkhah, A. Fauzi Ismail, S. Ramakrishna
Abstract A new method is developed to enhance the gas separation properties of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) by interior modification of an inorganic nano-porous particle. Ship-in-a-bottle (SIB), as a novel synthesis strategy, is considered to encapsulate a polyaza macrocyclic Ag-ligand complex into the zeolite Y, which is resulted in a new host-guest nano-composite. It is consequently incorporated into a glassy polymer matrix to fabricate a novel MMM for CO2 separation. Accordingly, cellulose acetate (CA) with relatively low gas permeability is selected as the membrane polymeric matrix to provide an appropriate opportunity for better tracking the effect of incorporating the new synthesized nano-porous hybrids. The results showed a promising increase in both the CO2 permeability (45.71%) and CO2/N2 selectivity (40.28%) of the prepared MMM over its pristine CA membrane. It can be concluded that the proposed method makes it possible to fabricate novel MMMs with significant intensification in performance of the current MMMs.