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Volume 12
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10.3390/separations12080218
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Effect of Performance and Fouling Mechanisms of Thermo-Responsive Membranes on Treating Secondary Effluent Containing Added Sulfamethoxazole

by
Lian Yang
1,2,
Haoran Qiu
2,
Yingjie Yang
2,
Lijun Zhao
2,
Ping Xiao
3,
Guoliang Liu
2,
Jiang Chang
2,
Shaoxia Yang
1 and
Feng Xiao
1,*
1
School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
2
Beijing Drainage Group Co., Ltd., Beijing 100044, China
3
Green Intelligence Environmental School, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing 408000, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Separations 2025, 12(8), 218; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12080218 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 21 July 2025 / Revised: 11 August 2025 / Accepted: 15 August 2025 / Published: 16 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Adsorption and Separation Technologies in Water Treatment)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants generally lack a specialized design for the efficient removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), a toxic and bio-resistant compound. In this study, secondary effluent from a Beijing wastewater reclamation treatment plant was spiked with SMX and used to investigate the filtration performance and fouling mechanisms of thermo-responsive membranes. Thermo-responsive materials were prepared using polyvinylidene fluoride, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), and graphene oxide through Ce (IV)-induced redox radical polymerization. The results showed that the removal of SMX and COD reached 42% and 92%, respectively, with a NIPAM dosage of 1 g, and the removal of UV254 reached its highest value at 57.9%. Additionally, the filtration flux was higher at a temperature of 35 °C with a NIPAM dosage of 1 g. The fluorescence intensity of the organic matter from the secondary effluent spiked with SMX and decreased after the thermo-responsive membranes were implemented, and filtration with the membrane containing 1 g of NIPAM achieved a lower intensity at a value of 3074.6, according to the analysis of three-dimensional fluorescence excitation–emission spectroscopy. According to the extended Derjaguin–Laudau–Verwey–Overbeek theory analysis, the interfacial free energies of the thermo-responsive membrane with a 1 g dose of NIPAM were higher than the others during filtration.
Keywords: sulfamethoxazole; thermo-responsive membranes; performance; anti-fouling sulfamethoxazole; thermo-responsive membranes; performance; anti-fouling

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Yang, L.; Qiu, H.; Yang, Y.; Zhao, L.; Xiao, P.; Liu, G.; Chang, J.; Yang, S.; Xiao, F. Effect of Performance and Fouling Mechanisms of Thermo-Responsive Membranes on Treating Secondary Effluent Containing Added Sulfamethoxazole. Separations 2025, 12, 218. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12080218

AMA Style

Yang L, Qiu H, Yang Y, Zhao L, Xiao P, Liu G, Chang J, Yang S, Xiao F. Effect of Performance and Fouling Mechanisms of Thermo-Responsive Membranes on Treating Secondary Effluent Containing Added Sulfamethoxazole. Separations. 2025; 12(8):218. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12080218

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yang, Lian, Haoran Qiu, Yingjie Yang, Lijun Zhao, Ping Xiao, Guoliang Liu, Jiang Chang, Shaoxia Yang, and Feng Xiao. 2025. "Effect of Performance and Fouling Mechanisms of Thermo-Responsive Membranes on Treating Secondary Effluent Containing Added Sulfamethoxazole" Separations 12, no. 8: 218. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12080218

APA Style

Yang, L., Qiu, H., Yang, Y., Zhao, L., Xiao, P., Liu, G., Chang, J., Yang, S., & Xiao, F. (2025). Effect of Performance and Fouling Mechanisms of Thermo-Responsive Membranes on Treating Secondary Effluent Containing Added Sulfamethoxazole. Separations, 12(8), 218. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12080218

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