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Facile Surface Modification of Polyamide Membranes Using UV-Photooxidation Improves Permeability and Reduces Natural Organic Matter Fouling

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    Treatment and Resource Recovery

    Facile Surface Modification of Polyamide Membranes Using UV-Photooxidation Improves Permeability and Reduces Natural Organic Matter Fouling
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    • Hojung Rho
      Hojung Rho
      Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
      Department of Land, Water and Environment Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, 283, Goyang-Daero, Ilsanseo-Gu, Goyang-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 10223, Republic of Korea
      More by Hojung Rho
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-4923-6677
    • Sung-Ju Im
      Sung-Ju Im
      Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066, Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do 440-746, Republic of Korea
      More by Sung-Ju Im
    • Omar Alrehaili
      Omar Alrehaili
      Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
      More by Omar Alrehaili
    • Sungyun Lee
      Sungyun Lee
      Department of Civil Environmental Engineering, School of Disaster Prevention and Environmental Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 2559, Gyeongsang-daero, Sangju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 37224, Republic of Korea
      More by Sungyun Lee
    • Am Jang
      Am Jang
      Graduate School of Water Resources, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066, Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do 440-746, Republic of Korea
      More by Am Jang
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-2400-7664
    • François Perreault
      François Perreault
      Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
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    • Paul Westerhoff*
      Paul Westerhoff
      Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
      *Email: [email protected]. Phone: 480-965-2885.
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      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-9241-8759
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    Environmental Science & Technology

    Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2021, 55, 10, 6984–6994
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07844
    Published May 5, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society
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    Abstract

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    A new optimized ultraviolet (UV) technique induced a photooxidation surface modification on thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide (PA) brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) membranes that improved membrane performance (i.e., permeability and organic fouling propensity). Commercial PA membranes were irradiated with UV-B light (285 nm), and the changes in the membrane performance were assessed through dead-end and cross-flow tests. UV-B irradiation at 12 J·cm–2 enhanced the pure water permeability by 34% in the dead-end tests without decreasing the mono- or divalent ion rejections, as compared with the pristine PA membrane, and led to less fouling by natural organic matter in the cross-flow tests. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that UV-B irradiation opened the pore structure and created carboxylic and amine groups on the PA surface, leading to increased membrane surface charge and hydrophilicity. Thus, an optimal UV-B dose appears to modify only a thin layer of the PA membrane surface, which favorably enhances the membrane performance. UV-B did not alter the structure, flux, or salt rejection for cellulose triacetate (CTA)-based membranes. While other membrane surface modifications include oxidants, strong acids, and bases, the UV-B facile treatment is chemical-free, thus reducing chemical wastes, and easy to apply in roll-to-roll fabrication processes of PA membranes. The results also showed that a low UV irradiation dose could be applied to PA or CTA membranes for disinfection or photocatalytic oxidation.

    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

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    Supporting Information

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    The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c07844.

    • Detailed description of surface analysis tools and surface characteristics of CTA membranes, the physicochemical properties of the RO membranes elements (Table S1), surface chemical composition of the pristine and UV-irradiated PA membranes (Table S2), the schematic of the laboratory-scale cross-flow reverse osmosis unit (Figure S1), pure water permeability and rejection of various ions by pristine and UV-irradiated polymeric CTA membranes (Figure S2), AFM images showing the average surface roughness (n = 3) of pristine and UV-irradiated PA membranes (Figure S3), the surface morphology and AFM images showing the average surface roughness (n = 3) of 65.1 nm UV-irradiated PA membranes at 37 J·cm–2 (Figure S4), the surface morphology of pristine and UV-irradiated CTA membranes (Figure S5), surface features changes in pristine and UV-irradiated CTA membranes (Figure S6), and the changes of surface charge characteristics and hydrophobicity of pristine and UV-irradiated CTA membranes (Figure S7) (PDF)

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    Environmental Science & Technology

    Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2021, 55, 10, 6984–6994
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07844
    Published May 5, 2021
    Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society
    Request reuse permissions

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