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Novel electrically conductive PVDF-carbon composite membranes for wastewater purification and electrochemical defouling

Novel electrically conductive PVDF-carbon composite membranes for wastewater purification and electrochemical defouling
Novel electrically conductive PVDF-carbon composite membranes for wastewater purification and electrochemical defouling
Membrane separation technology has emerged as a promising and widely applied solution in various industrial sectors. However, the persistent issue of membrane fouling limits the efficiency and longevity of membrane-based processes. This PhD thesis introduces an innovative, cost-effective and sustainable approach to address this challenge by introducing an electrical field in the membrane cleaning process. of the optimised conductive ultrafiltration PVDF-CNT-0.5 membrane at +3V electrical field, the flux recovery rate (FRR) is 89.1 %, suggesting that the superior performance is dominated by electrochemistry reaction. In addition, the collected current signal ratio in the defouling process has a similar trend with the measured flux recovery rate, providing a novel method to explore the science behind the membrane fouling process. Moreover, research into PVDF-GP membranes uncovers pathways for tailoring conductivity enhancement to optimise performance. By forming a top layer on the composite membrane, a graphite-incorporated PVDF composite membrane obtained a 15- time electrical conductivity improvement compared with the PVDF membrane. Comparing the difference between graphite-incorporated and CNT-incorporated membranes reveals and discusses the science behind crucial operation parameter membrane fabrication and key operation parameters. Meanwhile, another electrostatic-controlled mechanism was proposed for defouling with the PVDF-GP membrane. In addition, the study delves into the hybrid carbon and Fe2O3-deposited membranes, offering a comprehensive evaluation of the contributions of both conductivity and electrocatalytic properties in the Electrical Assisted Membrane Cleaning (EAMC) process, revealing the potential conflict relationship between the electrostatic mechanism and the electrochemistry reaction mechanism. Depositing the functional material provided a promising pathway to deal with this conflict. The Fe2O3-deposited GP/CNT-0.5/0.5 achieved superior FRR and 88.6 % with +3V defouling; after reducing the applied potential to +1.3 V, the Fe-deposited membrane still achieved 78.8% FRR, which further improved the energy efficiency in the defouling process.
University of Southampton
Ma, Yuxuan
86637e32-2115-4eb1-93cc-94fbed3f5089
Ma, Yuxuan
86637e32-2115-4eb1-93cc-94fbed3f5089
Jiang, Zheng
bcf19e78-f5c3-48e6-802b-fe77bd12deab
Ponce De Leon Albarran, Carlos
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c
Atkinson, John
5e9729b2-0e1f-400d-a889-c74f6390ea58

Ma, Yuxuan (2024) Novel electrically conductive PVDF-carbon composite membranes for wastewater purification and electrochemical defouling. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 197pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Membrane separation technology has emerged as a promising and widely applied solution in various industrial sectors. However, the persistent issue of membrane fouling limits the efficiency and longevity of membrane-based processes. This PhD thesis introduces an innovative, cost-effective and sustainable approach to address this challenge by introducing an electrical field in the membrane cleaning process. of the optimised conductive ultrafiltration PVDF-CNT-0.5 membrane at +3V electrical field, the flux recovery rate (FRR) is 89.1 %, suggesting that the superior performance is dominated by electrochemistry reaction. In addition, the collected current signal ratio in the defouling process has a similar trend with the measured flux recovery rate, providing a novel method to explore the science behind the membrane fouling process. Moreover, research into PVDF-GP membranes uncovers pathways for tailoring conductivity enhancement to optimise performance. By forming a top layer on the composite membrane, a graphite-incorporated PVDF composite membrane obtained a 15- time electrical conductivity improvement compared with the PVDF membrane. Comparing the difference between graphite-incorporated and CNT-incorporated membranes reveals and discusses the science behind crucial operation parameter membrane fabrication and key operation parameters. Meanwhile, another electrostatic-controlled mechanism was proposed for defouling with the PVDF-GP membrane. In addition, the study delves into the hybrid carbon and Fe2O3-deposited membranes, offering a comprehensive evaluation of the contributions of both conductivity and electrocatalytic properties in the Electrical Assisted Membrane Cleaning (EAMC) process, revealing the potential conflict relationship between the electrostatic mechanism and the electrochemistry reaction mechanism. Depositing the functional material provided a promising pathway to deal with this conflict. The Fe2O3-deposited GP/CNT-0.5/0.5 achieved superior FRR and 88.6 % with +3V defouling; after reducing the applied potential to +1.3 V, the Fe-deposited membrane still achieved 78.8% FRR, which further improved the energy efficiency in the defouling process.

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More information

Published date: April 2024

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 489252
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/489252
PURE UUID: 6e3bb040-6295-4c80-97dd-58ff2bab3322
ORCID for Zheng Jiang: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7972-6175
ORCID for Carlos Ponce De Leon Albarran: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1907-5913
ORCID for John Atkinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3411-8034

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 18 Apr 2024 16:46
Last modified: 16 May 2024 01:44

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Contributors

Author: Yuxuan Ma
Thesis advisor: Zheng Jiang ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: John Atkinson ORCID iD

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