Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 14, Issue 18, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym14183711
Keywords
polyacrylic acid; reverse osmosis; optimization; mineral scaling
Categories
Funding
- Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation) [NPRP13S-0207-200289]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This research optimizes the functionalization of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using the response surface methodology (RSM) to reduce multiple types of fouling. The optimized membranes showed improvements in both water permeability and salt rejection, with significant inhibition of mineral scaling.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is affected by multiple types of fouling such as biofouling, scaling, and organic fouling. Therefore, a multi-functional membrane capable of reducing more than one type of fouling is a need of the hour. The polyacrylic acid and graphene oxide (PAA-GO) nanocomposite functionalization of the RO membrane has shown its effectiveness against both mineral scaling and biofouling. In this research, the polyacrylic acid concentration and irradiation times were optimized for the PAA-GO-coated RO membrane using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. The effect of these parameters on pure water permeability and salt rejection was investigated. The models were developed through the design of the experiment (DoE), which were further validated through the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum conditions were found to be: 11.41 mg center dot L-1 (acrylic acid concentration) and 28.08 min (UV activation times) with the predicted results of 2.12 LMH center dot bar(-1) and 98.5% NaCl rejection. The optimized membrane was prepared as per the model conditions, which showed an increase in both pure water permeability and salt rejection as compared to the control. The improvement in membrane surface smoothness and hydrophilicity for the optimized membrane also helped to inhibit mineral scaling by 98%.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available