Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qipeng Zhao, Die Ling Zhao, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: In this study, a series of defective ZIF-8 (dZIF-8) nanoparticles with tuneable inner defects were successfully synthesized and incorporated into polyamide-based thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for brackish water and seawater desalination. The newly developed TFN membranes showed higher separation performance for brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination compared to normal ZIF-8-incorporated TFN membranes. Additionally, the TFN membranes exhibited a steady water flux and maintained salt rejection when used for seawater desalination.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Tianshi Yang, Chun Feng Wan, Junyou Zhang, Chakravarthy Gudipati, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: A novel interfacial polymerization method was proposed to fabricate TFC hollow fiber membrane modules for RO applications, successfully addressing the challenge of synthesizing defect-free polyamide selective layer. By circulating MPD and TMC solutions on different pressures to form a strong, uniform, and defect-free polyamide selective layer on the inner surface. Experimental results showed that the TFC hollow fiber membrane module prepared by this method exhibited good RO performance.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Somin Lee, Hee-Jun Kim, Miao Tian, Gilson Khang, Hyun-Woo Kim, Tae-Hyun Bae, Jaewoo Lee
Summary: The study focused on preventing scaling on reverse osmosis membranes by coating silk fibroin, with the coated membrane showing advantages in anti-scaling properties.
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Rasha Saeed, A. H. Konsowa, Marwa S. Shalaby, Moustapha S. Mansour, M. G. Eloffy
Summary: Reverse osmosis (RO) is an efficient desalination technology, but it faces challenges in energy consumption and fouling. Forward osmosis (FO), on the other hand, is a low-energy membrane desalination process that can be coupled with RO to reduce energy consumption. Through optimization using a mathematical model, the FO-RO hybrid system significantly improves water productivity and permeate quality, while reducing energy consumption.
ALEXANDRIA ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Die Ling Zhao, Qipeng Zhao, Hongjun Lin, Shing Bor Chen, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: Polydopamine (PDA) is commonly used to modify membrane surfaces for better hydrophilicity and reduced fouling. However, traditional modifications only happen on the surface and can lower water permeance and salt rejection. In this study, a pressure assisted coating method was used to overcome these issues by adjusting the inner structure of membranes during PDA modification. By coating with PDA under 2 bar pressure for 3 hours, the resulting membranes showed improved water permeance and salt rejection to 3.31 LMH/bar and 98.95%, respectively. The PDA modified membranes also exhibited excellent antifouling behavior when exposed to alginate sodium. Overall, this newly developed PDA coating method effectively enhances the desalination performance of TFC membranes for water treatment and reuse.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Humberto Jaramillo, Chanhee Boo, Sara M. Hashmi, Menachem Elimelech
Summary: The study demonstrates that modifying the RO membrane surface with a zwitterionic polymer brush can effectively delay gypsum surface nucleation and crystal adsorption compared to the control membrane, resulting in a smaller decline in water flux.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Deepa Suresh, Pei Sean Goh, Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, Sumarni Binti Mansur, Kar Chun Wong, Muhammad Hariz Asraf, Nik Ahmad Nizam Nik Malek, Tuck Whye Wong
Summary: In this study, a thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane was modified by complexing tannic acid and silver nanoparticles, resulting in improved chlorine resistance, antibacterial properties, flux, and NaCl rejection.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qipeng Zhao, Die Ling Zhao, Fan Feng, Tai-Shung Chung, Shing Bor Chen
Summary: By intercalating citrate anions into layered double hydroxides, a novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with enlarged inter-layer spacing was developed. This membrane demonstrated excellent performance in brackish water reverse osmosis desalination and boron removal, offering insights for the design of next-generation TFN membranes for water treatment.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qipeng Zhao, Die Ling Zhao, Tai-Shung Chung, Shing Bor Chen
Summary: A new methodology is proposed to prepare thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes by in-situ growth of layered double hydroxides (LHDs) onto the surfaces of pristine thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. This method improves the water permeance of the membranes without compromising salt rejection.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qipeng Zhao, Die Ling Zhao, Liang Ying Ee, Tai-Shung Chung, Shing Bor Chen
Summary: A new approach of post-coating ferric-tannic acid (Fe-TA) complex onto thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes has been explored, leading to improved separation performance and reduced manufacturing cost. The resulting membrane exhibits high water permeance and salt rejection, as well as comparable performance for seawater desalination and boron removal.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Anas Sanna, Benedikt Buchspies, Mathias Ernst, Martin Kaltschmitt
Summary: Photovoltaic driven decentralized reverse osmosis plants for brackish water desalination face the challenge of continuous operation with high energy efficiency. This study proposes an innovative concept using pumped storage as hydraulic energy storage to ensure steady drinking water production. The overall efficiency of the pumped storage in this system is higher than that of current designs based on PV and battery systems.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Anelyn P. Bendoy, Hana G. Zeweldi, Myoung Jun Park, Ho Kyong Shon, Hern Kim, Wook-Jin Chung, Grace M. Nisola
Summary: The development of membranes with enhanced separation and transport properties, specifically by incorporating silicene into thin film composite (TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes, has shown promising results in improving membrane performance and water permeability.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
S. Fellaou, A. Ruiz-Garcia, B. Gourich
Summary: The energy-driven process of brackish water desalination by reverse osmosis membranes was evaluated in a full-scale plant in the Canary Islands, Spain after 14 years of intermittent operation. Conventional and enhanced exergy analysis revealed significant irreversibilities in the RO system and pumps, with a large portion being avoidable exergy destruction. Recommendations were made to improve the efficiency and reduce exergy destruction in the pumps.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Kyung Hwa Jung, Hee Joong Kim, Mun Hyeon Kim, Huiran Seo, Jong-Chan Lee
Summary: The water-soluble superamphiphilic block copolymer surfactant PSbPDz improves water wettability on the support layers and increases the interface area between the aqueous and organic phase, while also enhancing the roughness of the PA selective layer. As a result, the RO membrane fabricated with PSbPDz shows significantly larger water permeance value and maintains high salt rejection value compared to the neat RO membrane.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Nor Akalili Ahmad, Pei Sean Goh, Kar Chun Wong, Stanley Chinedu Mamah, Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, Abdul Karim Zulhairum
Summary: In this study, an accelerated layer by layer (LbL) assembly based on spray-on technique was successfully used to modify the surface of a reverse osmosis (RO) thin film composite (TFC) membrane. The spray-coated TFC membrane showed excellent water permeability and anti-fouling properties.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Can Zeng Liang, Mohammad Askari, Looh Tchuin (Simon) Choong, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: The study introduces ultra-strong polymeric thin film composite hollow fiber membranes with high burst pressures and water permeance for improving water desalination through reverse osmosis processes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ji Wu, Can Zeng Liang, Ali Naderi, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: This study introduces a novel nanocomposite membrane design using soluble organic macrocyclic cavitands, which addresses the issue of discrete nanofiller phases in molecular-sieving membranes and achieves excellent molecular-seiving performance. These membranes exhibit outstanding high-temperature mixed-gas H-2/CO2 separation capabilities, making them highly promising for various energy-intensive molecular separations.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ji Wu, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: By utilizing 4-sulfocalix[4]arene (SCA4) molecules, this unconventional nanocomposite membrane design can effectively separate CO2 from H2, demonstrating significantly enhanced H2/CO2 separation efficiency, mechanical properties, and long-term stability under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions. These membranes also possess a single-phase composite structure that surpasses conventional phase-segregated mixed-matrix membranes in processability, providing a versatile toolbox for designing advanced molecular-sieving membranes with optimal performance, robust properties, and scalability.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Die Ling Zhao, Qipeng Zhao, Hongjun Lin, Shing Bor Chen, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: Polydopamine (PDA) is commonly used to modify membrane surfaces for better hydrophilicity and reduced fouling. However, traditional modifications only happen on the surface and can lower water permeance and salt rejection. In this study, a pressure assisted coating method was used to overcome these issues by adjusting the inner structure of membranes during PDA modification. By coating with PDA under 2 bar pressure for 3 hours, the resulting membranes showed improved water permeance and salt rejection to 3.31 LMH/bar and 98.95%, respectively. The PDA modified membranes also exhibited excellent antifouling behavior when exposed to alginate sodium. Overall, this newly developed PDA coating method effectively enhances the desalination performance of TFC membranes for water treatment and reuse.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qipeng Zhao, Die Ling Zhao, Fan Feng, Tai-Shung Chung, Shing Bor Chen
Summary: By intercalating citrate anions into layered double hydroxides, a novel thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane with enlarged inter-layer spacing was developed. This membrane demonstrated excellent performance in brackish water reverse osmosis desalination and boron removal, offering insights for the design of next-generation TFN membranes for water treatment.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Weikun Paul Li, Aung Thet Paing, Chin Ann Chow, Marn Soon Qua, Karikalan Mottaiyan, Kangjia Lu, Adil Dhalla, Tai-Shung Chung, Chakravarthy Gudipati
Summary: The novel tri-bore polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes were successfully scaled-up for industrial production and optimized for large-scale processes. After assembly into different length modules, the membranes showed high permeate flux and salt rejection rates in membrane distillation applications.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marn Soon Qua, Yan Zhao, Junyou Zhang, Sebastian Hernandez, Aung Thet Paing, Karikalan Mottaiyan, Jian Zuo, Adil Dhalla, Tai-Shung Chung, Chakravarthy Gudipati
Summary: Hollow fiber membranes made from PVDF polymer with a unique structure have been developed, which exhibit good mechanical strength and water vapor transportation. Through technology translation, the manufacturing scale of the membranes has been successfully increased, making them suitable for high-efficiency desalination and industrial wastewater applications.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bizhen Zeng, Zhenxiang Pan, Liguo Shen, Dieling Zhao, Jiaheng Teng, Huachang Hong, Hongjun Lin
Summary: This study explored the thermodynamic fouling mechanisms of polysaccharides with different structures. The results showed that xanthan gum solution exhibited a more rapid flux decline trend and higher specific filtration resistance compared to carrageenan. Xanthan gum had a more disordered structure and higher viscosity, while carrageenan had a branch structure. The gel layer of xanthan gum had a more homogeneous structure and rigid polymer backbone, facilitating gel formation with water.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bofan Li, Sheng Wang, Xian Jun Loh, Zibiao Li, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: In the state-of-the-art membrane industry, sustainable and closed-loop recyclable membranes have been innovated using covalent adaptable networks (CANs) with thermally reversible Diels-Alder (DA) adducts. These membranes exhibit excellent mechanical properties, thermal and chemical stabilities, and separation performance comparable to or even higher than nonrecyclable membranes. The used membranes can be depolymerized to remove contaminants and refabricated into new membranes, filling in the gaps in closed-loop recycling and promoting the advancement of sustainable membranes for a green membrane industry.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Ji Wu, Jie Gao, Shing-Bor Chen, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: Tuning the permeation properties of TFN membranes through molecular redesign is important for RO desalination performance above the trade-off limit. Activation by organic solvents can boost water permeability but has rejection loss constraints. This study innovatively integrated soluble organic macrocyclic cavitands in the activating solvent to form cavity-bearing nanocomposite structures, which improved water permeability and salt/boron rejection.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Liang Ying Ee, Qipeng Zhao, Jie Gao, Chit Kai Lim, Kai Xue, Sze Yuet Chin, Sam Fong Yau Li, Tai-Shung Chung, Shing Bor Chen
Summary: In this study, facile intercalation and functionalization of β-cyclodextrin onto layered double hydroxides have resulted in the formation of accessible hydroxyl functional groups and anions that exhibit strong sorption and host-guest interaction with boron. The modified LDH was employed to fabricate a polyamide-based thin-film nanocomposite membrane with high salt rejection and water permeance for brackish water, achieving a high boron rejection rate as well. This pioneering study provides valuable insights into the design of brackish water reverse osmosis membranes using macrocyclic molecules and inorganic layered nanomaterials.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Qianqian Zeng, Die Ling Zhao, Liguo Shen, Hongjun Lin, Ning Kong, Lei Han, Cheng Chen, Jiaheng Teng, Chuyang Tang, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: This study inserted titanium oxide nanotubes into the interlayer space of 2D MXene-based membranes to prepare PMT membranes with excellent performance. The PMT membrane has outstanding hydrophilicity, high retention rates, and ultra-high permeability. It also exhibits excellent antifouling and self-cleaning properties. The incorporation of TiONT increased the interaction energy between the membrane and pollutants, thereby improving its antifouling performance. This novel 2D membrane shows great promise for large-scale continuous separations of oil/water emulsions.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fan Feng, Ji Wu, Can Zeng Liang, Martin Weber, Sui Zhang, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: In this work, scalable polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) and polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymers were blended to create an enhanced polymer matrix that utilized the permeability and mechanical flexibility of PPSU and the selectivity and thermal stability of PBI. Calix[6]arene (CA6) was incorporated into the blend matrix to further enhance the H2/CO2 selectivity. The nanocomposite blend membrane achieved a significantly higher H2/CO2 selectivity with minimal permeability loss, surpassing the Robeson upper bound. This work presents exciting possibilities for designing molecularly mixed composite membranes (MMCMs) with better scalability compared to conventional mixed-matrix designs.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Baiwang Zhao, Jun Wen Wong, Can Zeng Liang, Ji Wu, Tai-Shung Chung, Sui Zhang
Summary: Researchers developed an inner-selective polyethersulfone-polydimethylsiloxane (PES-PDMS) thin-film composite (TFC) hollow fiber membrane for CO2/N2 separation. The membrane exhibited high CO2 permeance and CO2/N2 selectivity, making it a promising candidate for post-combustion CO2 capture.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Kai Yu Wang, Martin Weber, Tai-Shung Chung
Summary: PBI has been explored for fabricating HFMs for liquid and gas separations due to its chemical resistance and stability, enhancing separation performance. State-of-the-art technologies can fabricate macrovoid-free PBI HFMs, and chemically modified PBI membranes, PBI blended membranes, and PBI composite membranes can improve performance.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2022)
