Electrospun nanofiber membrane for membrane adsorption, membrane contactor and fouling mitigation in ultrafiltration

电纺纳米纤维膜用于超滤中的膜吸附、膜接触器和污垢抑制

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-03753
• 负责人: Matsuura, Takeshi
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=659046
• 关键词: Electrospun; nanofiber; membrane; adsorption; contactor

Nano-scale materials can be rationally designed to exhibit novel and significantly improved *physical and chemical properties. Polymer nanofibers, an important class of nano-materials, have attracted increasing attention during the past decade.**In particular, electro-spun nanofiber membranes (ENMs) have already been proven to be applicable in a variety of membrane processes for water treatment, such as MF, UF, NF, MD, FO, PRO, membrane absorption and membrane air stripping in the laboratory scale. The proposed project aims to widen the scope of the applicability of ENMs as filtration membrane for water and gas treatment even further. Water treatment by ENMs is now on the verge of commercialization. There are companies who are aiming at the commercialization of nanofiber membranes for water treatment (e.g. Xanofi, founded in 2010 in NC, USA). The proposed project will contribute to the future commercialization of ENMs by demonstrating a variety of novel applications of ENMs.**Thus, the objectives of this research are:*1) To fabricate and test the metal oxide nanoparticles incorporated electro-spun nanofiber membranes (ENMs) (hereafter called Mixed Matrix ENMs (MMENMs)) for the removal of arsenics from water by membrane adsorption (MA)*2) To fabricate and test ENMs in membrane contactor (MC) application for capturing CO2 from CO2/N2 gas mixtures*3) To fabricate ENMs aligned parallel for fouling mitigation and washing enhancement in ultrafiltration applications ***In the last few decades, arsenic contamination in natural water has raised significant environmental and public health concerns because of its high toxicity, accumulation in human body and carcinogenicity. Recently, the development of affinity membrane provided an effective method for arsenic removal under low pressure. In view of very high porosity and interconnectivity, a much higher flux is expected by ENMs when they are used in MA.**Membrane contactor (MC) is a process in which gas and liquid flow on the opposite sides of a porous membrane; a gaseous component diffuses through the membrane pore from the gas to liquid phase where the gas is absorbed by the absorbent in the liquid. One of its applications is CO2 removal from natural and flue gas. Membrane contactor can provide contact area per unit volume 4 to 30 times higher than the conventional separation columns. ENM is an excellent candidate for membranes for MC for its high porosity and hydrophobicity.**An observation was made recently during the development of metal oxide incorporated polymeric membranes; i.e. polymer nodules were aligned parallel, and very clear patterns were observed by the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) at the membrane surface.*It was also found that the membrane fouling could be reduced substantially when the feed flow was oriented perpendicular to the patterned lines, while membrane washing was effective when the feed flow was oriented parallel to the patterned lines. Parallel alignment of nanofibers in ENM will provide a perfect pattern at the membrane surface and thus enhance the above effects.

纳米级材料可以经过合理设计，表现出新颖且显着改善的物理和化学性能。聚合物纳米纤维是一类重要的纳米材料，在过去十年中引起了越来越多的关注。**特别是，电纺纳米纤维膜（ENM）已被证明适用于各种水处理膜工艺，例如实验室规模的MF、UF、NF、MD、FO、PRO、膜吸收和膜空气剥离。拟议项目旨在进一步扩大 ENM 作为水和气体处理过滤膜的适用范围。 ENM 水处理现已接近商业化。有些公司致力于水处理纳米纤维膜的商业化（例如 2010 年在美国北卡罗来纳州成立的 Xanofi）。拟议的项目将通过展示 ENM 的各种新颖应用，为 ENM 的未来商业化做出贡献。**因此，本研究的目标是：*1) 制造和测试掺有电纺纳米纤维膜 (ENM) 的金属氧化物纳米粒子（以下称为混合基质 ENM (MMENMs)），用于通过膜吸附 (MA) 去除水中的砷*2) 在膜接触器 (MC) 应用中制造和测试 ENM，用于从 CO2/N2 气体混合物中捕获 CO2*3) 制造平行排列的 ENM，用于超滤应用中的污垢减轻和增强洗涤***在过去的几十年中，天然水中的砷污染由于其高毒性、在人体内蓄积和致癌性而引起了重大的环境和公共健康问题。近年来，亲和膜的发展为低压除砷提供了一种有效的方法。鉴于非常高的孔隙率和互连性，ENM 在用于 MA 时预计会具有更高的通量。 **膜接触器 (MC) 是气体和液体在多孔膜的相对两侧流动的过程；气体组分通过膜孔从气相扩散到液相，其中气体被液体中的吸收剂吸收。其应用之一是从天然气和烟道气中去除二氧化碳。膜接触器可以提供比传统分离塔高4至30倍的单位体积接触面积。 ENM 因其高孔隙率和疏水性而成为 MC 膜的绝佳候选者。**最近在金属氧化物掺入聚合物膜的开发过程中进行了观察；即聚合物结节平行排列，通过原子力显微镜（AFM）在膜表面观察到非常清晰的图案。*还发现，当进料流方向垂直于图案线时，膜污染可以大大减少，而当进料流方向平行于图案线时，膜清洗是有效的。 ENM 中纳米纤维的平行排列将在膜表面提供完美的图案，从而增强上述效果。