Nanocarbon immobilized membranes for generating bacteria and endotoxin free water via membrane distillation

A review of the potential of conventional and advanced membrane technology in the removal of pathogens from wastewater

“…Commonly, pathogen removal by MD utilized direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) configuration [70] , [103] , [104] , [105] . DCMD occurs when an aqueous solution cooler and the feed solution are kept in direct contact with the permeate side of the membrane.…”

“…The high operating temperature of MD can limit the growth of most bacteria, but not these thermophilic cells [108] . Therefore, several approaches have been done to enhance the membrane performance in reducing or eliminating the activity of these thermophilic cells such as impregnating the biocidal nanoparticles into the hydrophobic MD membrane [103] , [109] and coating the MD membrane with polymer containing biocidal nanoparticles [105] . For instance, superhydrophobic SiO 2 NPs-embedded PVDF nanofiber membranes coated with a hydrophilic thin layer impregnated with carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) and AgNPs showed remarkable biocidal properties towards thermophilic bacteria by a decrease in fouling (47% flux decline) and recorded high salt rejection (99.8%) [105] .…”

“…A study reported on the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) compounds in the polymeric membrane fabrication for the MD process [103] . The biocidal and endotoxin-removing properties of CNT and GO immobilized on the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) supported on polypropylene composite membrane are reported for the direct contact membrane distillation of thermophilic bacteria ( G. Stearothermophilus) and mesophilic bacteria ( E. coli) .…”

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Fig. 9 The biocidal activity mechanism of the immobilized (a) CNTs and (b) GO in the membrane for MD application [103] .

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Preparation of ECTFE Porous Membrane for Dehumidification of Gaseous Streams through Membrane Condenser

“…To date, the fluorinated polymer family is the most popular for preparing hydrophobic membranes, including polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymer (PVDF-HFP), (PVDF-CTFE), (PVDF-TrFE), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) [8][9][10]. Indeed, some other non-fluorinated polymers, such as polypropylene (PP), or other novel materials, such as graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are also used to prepare hydrophobic membranes [11][12][13][14][15]. As for ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE), it can be considered a relatively new member of this fluoropolymer family.…”