Electroconductive Membranes for Wastewater Treatment and Energy Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 6606

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Department of Engineering Chemistry, College of Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaih Education Foundation, Vaddeswaram, AP, India
Interests: electrochemical advanced oxidation process; zeolite catlysis; water decatmination & purificaion
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 214-1, Dae-hakro 280, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-749, Republic of Korea
Interests: metal-organic frameworks; photoelectrochemical studies; bio-sensing; dye-sensitized solar cells
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water scarcity, caused by population expansion, climate change, and industrialization, is one of the most severe risks to sustainable development and freshwater supplies. It is thus imperative to alleviate water shortages through desalination and wastewater reuse with robust water treatment systems. In principle, the membrane separation process is recognized as a viable technology for purifying water from unconventional water sources, but some difficulties (ineffectively removing small or neutral pollutants, and being prone to fouling) are associated with its broad application. Thus, further advancement is needed to develop novel multifunctional membranes that overcome the shortcomings of existing traditional membranes. Electroconductive membranes, which act as an electrode and a filter medium, can exploit electrochemical reactions with membrane filtration to expand the functions of conventional membranes beyond separation with multifunctionality. Therefore, novel electroconductive materials and more efficient process designs are of great interest to make this technology viable in the real world.

This Special Issue aims to provide contributions on advances in the synthesis, characterization, and applications of EMs for electrochemical decontamination of emerging pollutants and wastewater treatment. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conductive membranes;
  • Electrochemical filtration;
  • Composite electrocatalysts;
  • Electrocatalytic oxidation of micropollutants;
  • Future perspectives for multifunctional membranes;
  • Water decontamination and purification.

Dr. Naresh Mameda
Dr. Ganesh Koyyada
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • electrochemical membrane technology
  • reactive membranes
  • electrocatalysis
  • wastewater treatment
  • emerging pollutant degradation
  • fuel cells
  • membrane electrode assemblies
  • polymer electrolyte membranes

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4039 KiB  
Article
UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) Pretreatment for Ultrafiltration of Microcystis aeruginosa-Laden Water: Fe(II)/Fe(III) Triggered Synergistic Oxidation and Coagulation
by Huarong Yu, Haiyang Yang, Guangmei Wei, Naresh Mameda, Fangshu Qu and Hongwei Rong
Membranes 2023, 13(5), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13050463 - 25 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1400
Abstract
Ultrafiltration (UF) has been proven effective in removing algae during seasonal algal blooms, but the algal cells and the metabolites can induce severe membrane fouling, which undermines the performance and stability of the UF. Ultraviolet-activated sulfite with iron (UV/Fe(II)/S(IV)) could enable an oxidation-reduction [...] Read more.
Ultrafiltration (UF) has been proven effective in removing algae during seasonal algal blooms, but the algal cells and the metabolites can induce severe membrane fouling, which undermines the performance and stability of the UF. Ultraviolet-activated sulfite with iron (UV/Fe(II)/S(IV)) could enable an oxidation-reduction coupling circulation and exert synergistic effects of moderate oxidation and coagulation, which would be highly preferred in fouling control. For the first time, the UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) was systematically investigated as a pretreatment of UF for treating Microcystis aeruginosa–laden water. The results showed that the UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) pretreatment significantly improved the removal of organic matter and alleviated membrane fouling. Specifically, the organic matter removal increased by 32.1% and 66.6% with UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) pretreatment for UF of extracellular organic matter (EOM) solution and algae-laden water, respectively, while the final normalized flux increased by 12.0–29.0%, and reversible fouling was mitigated by 35.3–72.5%. The oxysulfur radicals generated in the UV/S(IV) degraded the organic matter and ruptured the algal cells, and the low-molecular-weight organic matter generated in the oxidation penetrated the UF and deteriorated the effluent. The over-oxidation did not happen in the UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) pretreatment, which may be attributed to the cyclic redox Fe(II)/Fe(III) coagulation triggered by the Fe(II). The UV-activated sulfate radicals in the UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) enabled satisfactory organic removal and fouling control without over-oxidation and effluent deterioration. The UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) promoted the aggregation of algal foulants and postponed the shift of the fouling mechanisms from standard pore blocking to cake filtration. The UV/Fe(II)/S(IV) pretreatment proved effective in enhancing the UF for algae-laden water treatment. Full article
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7 pages, 4606 KiB  
Communication
Gravure Printing of Graphite-Based Anodes for Lithium-Ion Printed Batteries
by Maria Montanino, Anna De Girolamo Del Mauro, Claudia Paoletti and Giuliano Sico
Membranes 2022, 12(10), 999; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12100999 - 14 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1730
Abstract
Aimed at the growing interest in printed batteries, widely used industrial gravure printing was recently proven to be able to produce high-quality electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), demonstrating its utility in the study of new functional materials. Here, for the first time, gravure [...] Read more.
Aimed at the growing interest in printed batteries, widely used industrial gravure printing was recently proven to be able to produce high-quality electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), demonstrating its utility in the study of new functional materials. Here, for the first time, gravure printing was investigated for the mass production of well-known low-cost graphite-based anodes for LiBs. Graphite was also chosen as a case study to explore the influence of process parameters on the layer microstructure and the performance of the printed anodes. In particular, upon decreasing the size of the active material nanoparticles through ball-milling, an enhancement in anode performance was observed, which is related to an improvement in the material distribution in the printed layer, even in the case of increasing mass loading through a multilayer approach. A further improvement in performance, close to the theoretical capacity, was possible by changing the ink parameters, obtaining a denser microstructure of the printed anode. Such good results further demonstrate the possibility of using gravure printing for the mass production of electrodes for printed batteries and, in general, components in the field of energy. Full article
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13 pages, 4984 KiB  
Article
Chemical Cleaning and Membrane Aging in MBR for Textile Wastewater Treatment
by Huarong Yu, Siyuan Shangguan, Chenyu Xie, Haiyang Yang, Chunhai Wei, Hongwei Rong and Fangshu Qu
Membranes 2022, 12(7), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12070704 - 12 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2603
Abstract
Membrane bioreactors have been widely used in textile wastewater treatment. Intensive chemical cleaning is indispensable in the MBR for textile wastewater treatment due to the severe membrane fouling implied. This work investigated the aging of three different membranes, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone [...] Read more.
Membrane bioreactors have been widely used in textile wastewater treatment. Intensive chemical cleaning is indispensable in the MBR for textile wastewater treatment due to the severe membrane fouling implied. This work investigated the aging of three different membranes, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), in the MBRs for textile wastewater treatment. Pilot-scale MBRs were operated and the used membrane was characterized. Batch chemical soaking tests were conducted to elucidate the aging properties of the membranes. The results indicated that the PVDF membrane was most liable to the chemical cleaning, and the PES and PTFE membranes were rather stable. The surface hydrophobicity of the PVDF increased in the acid aging test, and the pore size and pure water flux decreased due to the elevated hydrophobic effect; alkaline oxide aging destructed the structure of the PVDF membrane, enlarged pore size, and increased pure water flux. Chemical cleaning only altered the interfacial properties (hydrophobicity and surface zeta potential) of the PES and PTFE membranes. The fluoro-substitution and the dehydrofluorination of the PVDF, chain scission of the PES molecules, and dehydrofluorination of the PTFE were observed in aging. A chemically stable and anti-aging membrane would be of great importance in the MBR for textile wastewater treatment due to the intensive chemical cleaning applied. Full article
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