Mitigated membrane fouling in an SMBR by surface modification

Fouling is a major obstacle in membrane processes applied in membrane bioreactor. To improve the antifouling characteristics of polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membranes (PPHFMMs) in a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR), the PPHFMMs were surface modified by NH 3, CO 2 plasma treatment, phot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of membrane science Vol. 310; no. 1; pp. 409 - 417
Main Authors Yu, Hai-Yin, Liu, Lan-Qin, Tang, Zhao-Qi, Yan, Meng-Gang, Gu, Jia-Shan, Wei, Xian-Wen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 05.03.2008
Subjects
Antifouling characteristics
Polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membrane
Submerged membrane bioreactor
Surface modification
Wastewater treatment
Surface modification
Antifouling characteristics
Polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membrane
Wastewater treatment
Submerged membrane bioreactor
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Summary:Fouling is a major obstacle in membrane processes applied in membrane bioreactor. To improve the antifouling characteristics of polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membranes (PPHFMMs) in a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR), the PPHFMMs were surface modified by NH 3, CO 2 plasma treatment, photoinduced graft polymerization of acrylamide and acrylic acid. The structural and morphological changes on the membrane surface were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR/ATR) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The change of surface wettability was monitored by contact angle measurements. The results of XPS and FT-IR/ATR clearly indicated the successful modification on the membrane surface. The static water contact angle of the modified membrane reduced obviously. The antifouling characteristics of the modified membranes in an SMBR were evaluated. The modified membranes showed better filtration performances in the submerged membrane bioreactor than the unmodified one, and the acrylic acid-grafted membrane presented the best antifouling characteristics. The results demonstrated that (1) the surface carboxyl-containing membranes were better than the surface amido-containing membranes; (2) surface-grafted membranes were better than the plasma-treated membranes.
ISSN:0376-7388
1873-3123
DOI:10.1016/j.memsci.2007.11.017