Design and Implementation of Photoreactive Membrane Systems for Water Purification
Open AccessThe introduction of membrane filtration has significantly contributed to sustainable water reuse by rendering effective water purification. Considering the wide use and increasing demand for purified water as well as the tremendous need of saving energy consumption and reducing chemical footprint, the development of sustainable membrane technology has growing in recent years along with the increasing impetus in the domain of 2D nanomaterials, offering excellent platforms for designing performant membrane systems. However, membrane fouling, as a remarkable challenge in membrane filtration, compromises the membrane performance by not only impairing the membrane selectivity, but also reducing the yield of purified water. This dissertation is hence motivated by the potential value of integrating materials-based membrane technology and photocatalytic degradation in a sustainable way to mitigate fouling and to improve the performance of membrane filtration. First, I utilized titanium dioxide (TiO2) in a separate photocatalytic system to investigate the performance of a photocatalytic membrane system for mitigating fouling, and to identify critical properties for membrane fouling. The photocatalytic system had been demonstrated to disaggregate foulants and mitigate fouling adhesion forces in both foulant-to-membrane and foulant-to-foulant interactions. A radar map was rationally designed to highlight the enhancement of anti-fouling ability in a comprehensive way to predict fouling behaviors. In the second part, I proposed hybrid strategies by fabricating graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) membrane to reduce membrane fouling and to improve water filtration performance. The introduced exfoliated 2D carbon nitride nanosheets were incorporated to fabricate the integrated photo-reactive membrane, which had achieved filtration with inactivation of bacteria (i.e., E. coli), and the biofilm control of Staphylococcus epidermidis, providing a new pathway of anti-fouling membrane development. Thirdly, I highlight the strengths of using atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a promising tool to explore various insights on properties and interactions, especially for the characterization in the environmental engineering field. This thesis aims to develop a photoreactive membrane system towards enhanced water flux, desired membrane selectivity, and optimized fouling mitigation, as well as to understanding of the underlying mechanisms. The broader impacts of this thesis include the development of a framework of sustainable water purification to combine physical separation and chemical reactions.
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