A Mini-Review of Enhancing Ultrafiltration Membranes (UF) for Wastewater Treatment: Performance and Stability

Abstract

The scarcity of freshwater resources in many regions of the world has contributed to the emergence of various technologies for treating and recovering wastewater for reuse in industry, agriculture, and households. Deep wastewater treatment from oils and petroleum products is one of the difficult tasks that must be solved. Among the known technologies, UF membranes have found wide industrial application with high efficiency in removing various pollutants from wastewater. It is shown that the search for and development of highly efficient, durable, and resistant to oil pollution UF membranes for the treatment of oily wastewater is an urgent research task. The key parameters to improve the performance of UF membranes are by enhancing wettability (hydrophilicity) and the antifouling behavior of membranes. In this review, we highlight the using of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes primarily to treat oily wastewater. Various methods of polymer alterations of the UF membrane were studied to improve hydrophilicity, the ability of antifouling the membrane, and oil rejection, including polymer blending, membrane surface modification, and the mixed membrane matrix. The influence of the type and composition of the hydrophilic additives of nanoparticles (e.g., Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), graphene oxide (GO), zinc oxide (ZnO), and titanium dioxide (TiO2), etc.) was investigated. The review further provides an insight into the removal efficiency percent.

Fabrication of Gum Arabic-Graphene (GGA) Modified Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) Mixed Matrix Membranes: A Systematic Evaluation Study for Ultrafiltration (UF) Applications

“…The XRD patterns of pristine and graphene-modified PPSU membranes were illustrated below in Figure 6. The diffraction peak shown in all nanocomposite membranes at 26.6 corresponds to the (002) reflection of the graphene nanosheets [43,44]. Interestingly, although all GGAmodified PPSU membranes manifested the same peak, their peak intensity disclosed a proportional magnitude with each increment in the GGA content within the polymeric matrix.…”

Recent Advances on the Fabrication of Antifouling Phase-Inversion Membranes by Physical Blending Modification Method

“…How to enhance the membrane’s antifouling capability by reducing interactions between the material and bacteria/cells has become a crucial topic in membranes applied to water treatment and in the biomedical field and requires the use of antifouling materials. The high degree of surface hydrophilicity imparted by a suitable surface chemistry result in efficient fouling mitigation in aqueous media [ 1 , 7 , 15 , 84 , 85 ]. Research teams worldwide have investigated the blending of polymers traditionally used for membrane fabrication with various types of antifouling materials belonging to different classes.…”

“…As a result of the exchange of the solvent and the non-solvent, precipitation occurs, and a membrane film is produced. The excess of solvent is then removed by extensive washing of the membrane in water [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. UF membranes are usually prepared by this method.…”

Characterization of the Efficiency of Photo-Catalytic Ultrafiltation PES Membrane Modified with Tungsten Oxide in the Removal of Tinzaparin Sodium

“…Integrating nanoparticles with polymeric matrices anticipates that polymeric membranes can benefit from nanoparticles' superior properties to cope with some weaknesses, such as their propensity for fouling [11]. Membranes performance and separation properties were found be to enhanced with incorporating nanoparticles in/on polymeric matrices, such as zinc sulfide (ZnS) [12], titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) [13], zinc oxide (ZnO) [14,15], graphene oxide (GO) [16], carbon nanotube (CNTs), magnesium oxide (MgO), silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) [17], MWCNTs, iron(III) oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ), and graphene oxide-silica (GO/SiO 2 ) [18][19][20][21]. In recent years, photocatalytic membranes have drawn great attention in water treatment due to their superior characteristics (e.g., anti-fouling and improved permeate quality).…”

“…Semiconductor nanoparticles are quite effective in wastewater purification. Some examples of semiconductor nanoparticles are ZnO, ZnS, gallium nitride (GaN), gallium phosphide (GaP), cadmium sulfide (CdS), cadmium selenide (CdSe), and cerium fluoride (CeF 3 ) [21,[24][25][26][27][28]. Among these extraordinary photocatalytic nanomaterials are those made of WO 3 , which reported a stupendous performance as photocatalysts, gas sensors, and electrochromic devices.…”