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

电渗析是一种以电场为驱动力，利用带电薄膜进行分离的电化学分离过程。尽管电膜技术在食品、环境和生物技术等领域具有很强的应用潜力，但其普遍存在的问题之一是膜污染问题。对造成污染的物种进行了大量的研究，但通常是针对阴离子交换膜(AEM)。然而，在我们致力于开发新的食品和营养食品电膜过程的工作中，我们观察到存在于溶液中的蛋白质和/或矿物质对双极膜和阳离子交换膜(CEM)的污染作用。最近，我的团队第一个演示了脉冲电场(PEF)对传统ED中蛋白质污垢的影响。脉冲模式包括施加散列电流：在固定时间(TON)期间恒定的电流密度，然后是暂停持续时间(TOF)。除了我们的前期工作外，没有任何工作专门针对ED使用PEF对蛋白质污垢进行研究。此外，据我们所知，PEF从未在双极膜ED中使用过。该研究计划的总体目标是确定一种溶液的内在条件，以防止在电膜工艺中使用的膜上形成污染。更具体地说，该研究计划的目标是1)研究溶液组成对膜污染形成的影响，2)评价脉冲电场对膜污染的影响，3)研究离子交换膜的污染，4)研究带电物种在电膜过程中的动力学迁移，5)识别和表征污染的性质。该计划将产生关于膜交换的电化学观点的创新信息，并与这些过程的放大相关。最后，拟议的研究计划将为在竞争激烈的领域对高素质员工进行职业培训提供一个难得的机会，因为成功的机会与多学科的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.