SGER: Development of bacterial-sensing ultrafiltration membranes with improved permeability, selectivity and fouling control

摘要提案标题：开发具有改进的渗透性、选择性和污染控制的细菌传感超滤膜。提案编号：CTS-0610624主要研究者：伊莎贝尔C. Escobar，机构：托莱多大学膜能够在施加驱动力时根据其物理和化学性质分离物种，并且它们能够过滤以去除胶体，细胞和分子。膜过滤既可用于使用点的小型系统，也可用于大型市政系统，这使得膜过滤成为一种能够在紧急情况下挽救生命的过程，并始终如一地提供高质量的安全饮用水。然而，有两个主要问题与膜的使用相关：一个是膜的效率（水通量和杂质的去除率），另一个是膜污染。第一个问题与膜的微观结构密切相关，而后者，膜污染受不同因素的影响，如表面电荷，疏水性和表面粗糙度。结垢通过通量损失、压力增加和清洁频率对膜性能和成本产生不利影响。 PI建议将刺激响应聚合物刷（如n-异丙基丙烯酰胺或羟丙基纤维素）附着在表面上，这提供了折叠或扩展聚合物刷的可能性。相变起因于存在较低临界溶解温度（LCST），使得聚合物随着温度升高而从溶液中沉淀。这种能力可用于控制吸附/解吸。温度降低可导致刷膨胀成亲水状态，而温度升高导致塌陷成疏水状态。相对于塌陷的疏水状态，蛋白质吸附在膨胀的亲水状态下减少。虽然平衡吸附减少，显着的吸附仍然happened.The拟议的膜改性/传感技术将开发更强大的膜能够承受苛刻的原水水质条件，而不会失去其可靠性，在生产高品质的安全产品。

Abstract Proposal Title: SGER Development of bacterial-sensing ultrafiltration membranes with improved permeability, selectivity, and fouling control. Proposal Number: CTS-0610624 Principal Investigator: Isabel C. Escobar, Institution: University of Toledo Membranes are capable of separating species as a function of their physical and chemical properties when a driving force is applied, and they enable filtration to the removal of colloids, cells and molecules. Membrane filtration can be used both in small systems made for point-of-use as well as in large municipal systems, which makes membrane filtration a process capable of saving lives during emergency situations, as well as consistently providing high quality safe drinking water. However, there are two major concerns associated with the use of membranes: one is the efficiency of the membrane (water flux and removal rate of impurities), and the other is membrane fouling. The first concern is closely related to the microstructure of the membrane, while the latter, membrane fouling is affected by different factors, such as surface charge, hydrophobicity, and surface roughness. Fouling adversely affects membrane performance and cost through loss in flux, increase in pressure, and cleaning frequency. The PIs propose to attach a stimuli-responsive polymer brush (such as n-isopropyl acrylamide or hydroxypropyl cellulose) on the surface, which offers the potential to collapse or expand the polymer brush. The phase change arises from the existence of a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) such that the polymer precipitates from solution as the temperature is increased. This capability can be exploited to control adsorption/desorption. A temperature decrease can cause the brush to expand into a hydrophilic state while a temperature increase causes a collapse into a hydrophobic state. Protein adsorption is reduced in the expanded, hydrophilic state relative to the collapsed, hydrophobic state. Although equilibrium adsorption is reduced, significant adsorption still occurs.The proposed membrane modification/sensing technique will develop stronger membranes capable of withstanding harsh raw water quality conditions without losing their reliability in producing a high quality safe product.