Impact of pulsed electric field on membrane fouling susceptibility during electromembrane processes

电渗析（ED）是一种电化学分离过程，使用电场作为驱动力和带电膜来进行分离。尽管电膜工艺在食品、环境和生物技术等领域具有巨大的应用潜力，但其普遍存在的问题之一是膜污染。对引起污染的物质进行了大量的研究，但通常针对阴离子交换膜（AEM）。然而，在我们旨在开发新的食品和营养保健应用的电膜工艺的工作中，我们已经观察到存在于溶液中的蛋白质和/或矿物质在双极和阳离子交换膜（CEM）上的污染作用。最近，我的团队首次证明了脉冲电场（PEF）在常规ED过程中对蛋白质污染的影响。脉冲模式包括施加散列电流：在固定时间（Ton）内恒定的电流密度，然后是暂停时间（Toff）。除了我们的初步工作外，没有专门针对PEF对蛋白质污染的ED研究。此外，据我们所知，PEF从未用于双极膜ED。本研究计划的总体目标是确定溶液的内在条件，以便在电膜工艺中预先形成膜上的污垢。更具体地说，提出的研究计划的目标是1)研究溶液组成对膜污染形成的影响，2)评估脉冲电场对膜污染的影响，3)研究离子交换膜的污染，4)研究电膜过程中带电物质的动力学迁移，5)识别和表征污染性质。该项目将从膜交换的电化学角度产生创新的信息，并与这些过程的扩大有关。最后，拟议的研究计划将为在竞争激烈的领域中培养高素质员工提供一个特殊的机会，在这个领域中，成功的机会与多学科专业知识和创新能力有关。

Electrodialysis (ED), an electrochemical separation process, uses an electric field as the driving force and charged membranes to perform the separation. Despite its strong potential of applications in food, environmental and biotechnology industries, one of the common problems of electromembrane processes is fouling of membranes. Numerous studies have been done on the identification of species causing fouling, but usually directed to anion-exchange membrane (AEM). However, in our works aiming the development of new food and nutraceutical applications of electromembrane processes, we have observed the fouling action of protein and/or mineral present in solution on bipolar and cation-exchange membranes (CEM). Recently, my team was the first to demonstrate the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) on protein fouling during conventional ED. The pulsed mode consists in applying a hashed current : a constant current density during a fixed time (Ton) followed by a pause duration (Toff). No work, except our preliminary work, aimed specifically the study of ED using PEF on protein fouling. Furthermore, at our knowledge, PEF has never been used during ED with bipolar membrane. The general objective of this research program is to determine the intrinsic conditions of a solution to predispose to the formation of a fouling on membrane used in electromembrane processes. More specifically, the objectives of the proposed research program are 1) to study the solution composition effect on membrane fouling formation, 2) to evaluate the impact of pulsed electric field on membrane fouling, 3) to study the fouling of ion-exchange membranes, 4) to study the kinetic migration of charged species during electromembrane processes and 5) to identify and characterize the fouling nature. This program will generate information innovative on an electrochemical point of view on membrane exchange and relevant for the scale-up of these processes. At last, the proposed research program will offer an exceptional opportunity for the vocational training of highly qualified staff in a competitive field where success chances are linked to multidisciplinary expertise and innovation capacity.