Abstract
Membrane fouling, in particular biofouling is a major problem in membrane applications for water and wastewater treatment. In this study, cation-exchange membranes were modified with conductive polymer polyethyleneimine and nanomaterials such as titanium dioxide (TiO2) and graphene oxide (GO) to improve membrane anti-microbial properties and energy efficiency during electrodialysis. The anti-fouling potential was evaluated by quantitative measurement of biomass and biofilm accumulation on membrane surface with Escherichia coli (E. coli) as model microbes. Experimental results showed polyethyleneimine and nanomaterials coating changed membrane surface hydrophilicity and significantly improved anti-biofouling properties with an optimal nanomaterial dosage of 37.5 μg/mL of coating solution. Polyethyleneimine had limited effect on preventing microbial cell attachment, but demonstrated remarkable anti-biofilm growth by its cytotoxicity. Overall desalination performance of polyethyleneimine coated membrane was similar to unmodified membrane. GO coating significantly improved desalination efficiency because of its high conductivity and negative charge, while TiO2 coated membrane showed decreased overall desalination performance due to its reduced electrical conductivity.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
