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Membranes
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CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability
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CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 35346

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Veeriah Jegatheesan

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Guest Editor
1. School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
2. Water: Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Interests: water (treatment, distribution, modeling); wastewater (MBR, membranes in agriculture, aquaculture); saltwater intrusion; resource recovery (mine tailing ponds, dye and salt from textile effluent); novel technologies (forward osmosis, membrane distillation)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
Interests: anaerobic membrane bioreactors for industrial wastewater treatment; aerated membrane bioreactors; hybrid membrane systems for biological wastewater treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Li Shu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. LJS Environment, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
2. School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
Interests: water and wastewater (treatment, membrane bioreactor, recirculating aquaculture systems, application of membranes in agriculture); resource recovery (metal recovery from RO concentrate, mine tailing ponds, recovery of dye and salt from textile effluent); novel technology (nanotechnology, forward osmosis, membrane distillation)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Faisal I. Hai

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Guest Editor
Stategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Interests: membrane; biological; enzymatic and adsorption technologies for wastewater treatment/reuse; energy/resource recovery from wastewater/biosolids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ludovic F. Dumée

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 127788, United Arab Emirates
Interests: catalytic membrane reactors; nanoporous membranes; solvent separation; advanced characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This call for papers invites researchers broadly and the delegates of the International Conference on the Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering, CESE-2019 (3–7 November, 2019, at Grand Hi-Lai Hotel in Kaohsiung, Taiwan) in particular, whose work is related to applications of membranes for sustainability to submit original research papers, critical review articles, case studies, and technical notes on the following themes:

Applications of membranes in

  • Air purification
  • concentrate management
  • drinking water treatment
  • industrial wastewater treatment and discharge
  • integrated water management
  • liquid/gas separation
  • renewable energy production processes
  • stormwater management
  • removal of emerging contaminants from water
  • zero liquid discharge

Could we address the following questions with our knowledge and experience in the above themes?

How well do we get maximum befits from membrane applications? In what areas of membranes do we need to further our fundamental understanding? Which membrane technologies find difficulties in scale-up? How good are we at integrating membrane technologies? How can we improve the reliability of membranes and reduce the cost? Where are we in disseminating the needs if we are to use membranes all over the world? How can we bring true global collaborations? We cordially invite the membrane community to contribute to this Special Issue to compile a valuable volume that can truly serve our communities.

Authors are requested to provide clear evidence of how their work will contribute to water sustainability in their manuscripts.

Note: Submissions from the attendees will enjoy a 50% discount on the Article Processing Charge (APC)!

Prof. Dr. Veeriah Jegatheesan
Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan
Dr. Li Shu
Prof. Faisal I. Hai
Prof. Dr. Ludovic F. Dumée
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution control
  • emerging contaminants
  • industrial wastewater
  • liquid/gas separation
  • membrane technologies
  • renewable energy
  • sustainability
  • zero liquid discharge

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 193 KiB  
Editorial
Applications of Membranes for Sustainability
by Veeriah Jegatheesan, Chettiyappan Visvanathan, Li Shu, Faisal I. Hai and Ludovic F. Dumée
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080629 - 16 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1999
Abstract
Applications of membranes in water and wastewater treatment, desalination, as well as other purification processes, have become more widespread over the past few decades [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)

Research

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26 pages, 11790 KiB  
Article
Tailoring the Effects of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Composite Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane
by Shruti Sakarkar, Shobha Muthukumaran and Veeriah Jegatheesan
Membranes 2021, 11(4), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040241 - 28 Mar 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4569
Abstract
In this study, thin-film composite (TFC) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were synthesized by coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution by a dip coating method and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde (GA) acted as a cross-linking agent to improve the thermal [...] Read more.
In this study, thin-film composite (TFC) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were synthesized by coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution by a dip coating method and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde (GA) acted as a cross-linking agent to improve the thermal and chemical stability of the thin film coating. The incorporation of TiO2 in the film enhanced the hydrophilicity of the membrane and the rejection of dyes during filtration. The layer of TiO2 nanoparticles on the PVDF membranes have mitigated the fouling effects compared to the plain PVDF membrane. The photocatalytic performance was studied at different TiO2 loading for the photodegradation of dyes (reactive blue (RB) and methyl orange (MO)). The results indicated that the thin film coating of TiO2/PVA enhanced photocatalytic performance and showed good reusability under UV irradiation. This study showed that nearly 78% MO and 47% RB were removed using the TFC membrane. This work provides a new vision in the fabrication of TFC polymeric membranes as an efficient wastewater treatment tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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15 pages, 4575 KiB  
Article
Impact of Inorganic Ions and Organic Matter on the Removal of Trace Organic Contaminants by Combined Direct Contact Membrane Distillation–UV Photolysis
by Arbab Tufail, William E. Price and Faisal I. Hai
Membranes 2020, 10(12), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10120428 - 15 Dec 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2744
Abstract
This study investigated the degradation of five trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by integrated direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and UV photolysis. Specifically, the influence of inorganic ions including halide, nitrate, and carbonate on the performance of the DCMD–UV process was evaluated. TrOC degradation [...] Read more.
This study investigated the degradation of five trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by integrated direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and UV photolysis. Specifically, the influence of inorganic ions including halide, nitrate, and carbonate on the performance of the DCMD–UV process was evaluated. TrOC degradation improved in the presence of different concentrations (1–100 mM) of fluoride ion and chloride ion (1 mM). With a few exceptions, a major negative impact of iodide ion was observed on the removal of the investigated TrOCs. Of particular interest, nitrate ion significantly improved TrOC degradation, while bicarbonate ion exerted variable influence—from promoting to inhibiting impact—on TrOC degradation. The performance of DCMD–UV photolysis was also studied for TrOC degradation in the presence of natural organic matter, humic acid. Results indicated that at a concentration of 1 mg/L, humic acid improved the degradation of the phenolic contaminants (bisphenol A and oxybenzone) while it inhibited the degradation of the non-phenolic contaminants (sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, and diclofenac). Overall, our study reports the varying impact of different inorganic and organic ions present in natural water on the degradation of TrOCs by integrated DCMD–UV photolysis: the nature and extent of the impact of the ions depend on the type of TrOCs and the concentration of the interfering ions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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19 pages, 4847 KiB  
Article
Enhancing the Antibacterial Properties of PVDF Membrane by Hydrophilic Surface Modification Using Titanium Dioxide and Silver Nanoparticles
by Kajeephan Samree, Pen-umpai Srithai, Panaya Kotchaplai, Pumis Thuptimdang, Pisut Painmanakul, Mali Hunsom and Sermpong Sairiam
Membranes 2020, 10(10), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100289 - 15 Oct 2020
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 3989
Abstract
This work investigates polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane modification to enhance its hydrophilicity and antibacterial properties. PVDF membranes were coated with nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2-NP) and silver (AgNP) at different concentrations and coating times and characterized for their porosity, morphology, chemical [...] Read more.
This work investigates polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane modification to enhance its hydrophilicity and antibacterial properties. PVDF membranes were coated with nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2-NP) and silver (AgNP) at different concentrations and coating times and characterized for their porosity, morphology, chemical functional groups and composition changes. The results showed the successfully modified PVDF membranes containing TiO2-NP and AgNP on their surfaces. When the coating time was increased from 8 to 24 h, the compositions of Ti and Ag of the modified membranes were increased from 1.39 ± 0.13 to 4.29 ± 0.16 and from 1.03 ± 0.07 to 3.62 ± 0.08, respectively. The water contact angle of the membranes was decreased with increasing the coating time and TiO2-NP/AgNP ratio. The surface roughness and permeate fluxes of coated membranes were increased due to increased hydrophilicity. Antimicrobial and antifouling properties were investigated by the reduction of Escherichia coli cells and the inhibition of biofilm formation on the membrane surface, respectively. Compared with that of the original PVDF membrane, the modified membranes exhibited antibacterial efficiency up to 94% against E. coli cells and inhibition up to 65% of the biofilm mass reduction. The findings showed hydrophilic improvement and an antimicrobial property for possible wastewater treatment without facing the eminent problem of biofouling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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Graphical abstract

18 pages, 4544 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Feasibility of Forward Osmosis in Diluting RO Concentrate Using Pretreatment Backwash Water
by Susanthi Liyanaarachchi, Veeriah Jegatheesan, Li Shu, Ho Kyong Shon, Shobha Muthukumaran and Chun Qing Li
Membranes 2020, 10(3), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10030035 - 25 Feb 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3283
Abstract
Forward osmosis (FO) is an excellent membrane process to dilute seawater (SW) reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate for either to increase the water recovery or for safe disposal. However, the low fluxes through FO membranes as well the biofouling/scaling of FO membranes are bottlenecks [...] Read more.
Forward osmosis (FO) is an excellent membrane process to dilute seawater (SW) reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate for either to increase the water recovery or for safe disposal. However, the low fluxes through FO membranes as well the biofouling/scaling of FO membranes are bottlenecks of this process requiring larger membrane area and membranes with anti-fouling properties. This study evaluates the performance of hollow fibre and flat sheet membranes with respect to flux and biofouling. Ferric hydroxide sludge was used as impaired water mimicking the backwash water of a filter that is generally employed as pretreatment in a SWRO plant and RO concentrate was used as draw solution for the studies. Synthetic salts are also used as draw solutions to compare the flux produced. The study found that cellulose triacetate (CTA) flat sheet FO membrane produced higher flux (3–6 L m−2 h−1) compared to that produced by polyamide (PA) hollow fibre FO membrane (less than 2.5 L m−2 h−1) under the same experimental conditions. Therefore, long-term studies conducted on the flat sheet FO membranes showed that fouling due to ferric hydroxide sludge did not allow the water flux to increase more than 3.15 L m−2 h−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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Review

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15 pages, 865 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in the Prediction of Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors
by Yaoke Shi, Zhiwen Wang, Xianjun Du, Bin Gong, Veeriah Jegatheesan and Izaz Ul Haq
Membranes 2021, 11(6), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11060381 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4134
Abstract
Compared to the traditional activated sludge process, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) has several advantages such as the production of high-quality effluent, generation of low excess sludge, smaller footprint requirements, and ease of automatic control of processes. The MBR has a broader prospect of [...] Read more.
Compared to the traditional activated sludge process, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) has several advantages such as the production of high-quality effluent, generation of low excess sludge, smaller footprint requirements, and ease of automatic control of processes. The MBR has a broader prospect of its applications in wastewater treatment and reuse. However, membrane fouling is the biggest obstacle for its wider application. This paper reviews the techniques available to predict fouling in MBR, discusses the problems associated with predicting fouling status using artificial neural networks and mathematical models, summarizes the current state of fouling prediction techniques, and looks into the trends in their development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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33 pages, 1887 KiB  
Review
A Review on the Mechanism, Impacts and Control Methods of Membrane Fouling in MBR System
by Xianjun Du, Yaoke Shi, Veeriah Jegatheesan and Izaz Ul Haq
Membranes 2020, 10(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes10020024 - 04 Feb 2020
Cited by 173 | Viewed by 13890
Abstract
Compared with the traditional activated sludge process, a membrane bioreactor (MBR) has many advantages, such as good effluent quality, small floor space, low residual sludge yield and easy automatic control. It has a promising prospect in wastewater treatment and reuse. However, membrane fouling [...] Read more.
Compared with the traditional activated sludge process, a membrane bioreactor (MBR) has many advantages, such as good effluent quality, small floor space, low residual sludge yield and easy automatic control. It has a promising prospect in wastewater treatment and reuse. However, membrane fouling is the biggest obstacle to the wide application of MBR. This paper aims at summarizing the new research progress of membrane fouling mechanism, control, prediction and detection in the MBR systems. Classification, mechanism, influencing factors and control of membrane fouling, membrane life prediction and online monitoring of membrane fouling are discussed. The research trends of relevant research areas in MBR membrane fouling are prospected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
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