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Role of organic fouling layer on the rejection of trace organic solutes by nanofiltration: mechanisms and implications

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Abstract

To investigate how the organic fouling layers on nanofiltration (NF) membrane surface and the strong matrix effect (particularly by Ca2+) influence the rejection of trace organic compounds (TOrCs), filtration experiments with two TOrCs, bisphenol A (BPA) and sulfamethazine (SMT), were carried out with virgin and organic-fouled NF membrane. Organic fouling layer on the membrane was induced by sodium alginate (SA) at different concentrations of Ca2+. The results indicated that NF membrane maintained consistently rejection of TOrCs with little influence by membrane fouling at lower Ca2+ concentration. In contrast, organic fouling caused at higher concentration of Ca2+ observably restrained the rejections of both BPA and SMT. Furthermore, based on the cake-enhanced concentration polarization (CECP) model, the rejection of TOrCs was divided to the real rejection and the mass transfer coefficient. Moreover, it was found that the decrease in rejection resulted by organic fouling was due to the real rejection that was restrained by fouling layer with irregular impact on the mass transfer coefficient. Although the mechanism of trace compounds rejection was complex, the controlling factors varied among foulants. Nevertheless, the steric effect of the cake layer played an important role in determining solute rejection by organic-fouled NF membrane.

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Acknowledgements

This research was jointly supported by the National Science Foundation for the Outstanding Youngster Fund (51522804), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51778170), and the Nanqi Ren Studio, Academy of Environment & Ecology, Harbin Institute of Technology (HSCJ201701).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (SKLUWRE), Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Zhendong Gan, Xuewu Zhu, Guibai Li & Heng Liang

  2. School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Xing Du

  3. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China

    Xiaoxiang Cheng

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  1. Zhendong Gan
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  2. Xing Du
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  3. Xuewu Zhu
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  4. Xiaoxiang Cheng
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  5. Guibai Li
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  6. Heng Liang
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Correspondence to Heng Liang.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Gan, Z., Du, X., Zhu, X. et al. Role of organic fouling layer on the rejection of trace organic solutes by nanofiltration: mechanisms and implications. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 33827–33837 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2478-0

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