Assessing membrane fouling potential of humic acid using flow field-flow fractionation

Renewable energy powered membrane technology: Implications of adhesive interaction between membrane and organic matter on spontaneous osmotic backwash cleaning

Organic matter (OM) in surface and ground waters may cause membrane fouling that is laborious to clean once established. Spontaneous osmotic backwash (OB) induced by solar irradiance fluctuation has been demonstrated for early mineral scaling/organic fouling control in decentralised small-scale photovoltaic powered-nanofiltration/reverse osmosis (PV-NF/RO) membrane systems. However, various OM types will interact differently with membranes which in turn affects the effectiveness of OB. This work evaluates the suitability of spontaneous OB cleaning for eleven OM types (covering low-molecular-weight organics (LMWO), humic substances, polyphenolic compounds and biopolymers) regarding adhesive interactions with NF/RO membranes. The adhesive interactions were quantified by an asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation coupled with an organic carbon detector (FFFF-OCD). The underlying mechanism of OM-membrane adhesive interactions affecting OB cleaning was elucidated. The results indicate that humic acid (a typical humic substance) and tannic acid (a typical polyphenolic compound) induced stronger adhesive interaction with NF/RO membranes than biopolymers and LMWO. When the mass loss of an OM due to adhesion was below a critical range, the spontaneous OB is most effective (>85% flux recovery); and above this range, the OB becomes ineffective (<50% flux recovery). Polyphenolic compounds and humic substances resulted in lower OB cleaning efficiency, due to their higher aromatic content, enhancing hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. Calcium-facilitated adhesion of some OM types (such as humic substances, polyphenolics and biopolymers) increased irreversible organic fouling potential and weakened OB cleaning, which was verified by both FFFF-OCD and membrane filtration results. This work provides a guidance to formulate strategies to enhance spontaneous OB cleaning, such as first identifying the adhesion of OM in feedwater (surface and ground waters) using FFFF-OCD, and then removing "sticky" OM using suitable pre-treatment processes.

Sample carryover and cleaning procedures for asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation instrument

Asymmetrical flow field-flow (AF4) fractionation aims in separation of sample components to yield elution of homogenous fractions identified as well-defined peaks in the chromatograms. Separation that occurs in matrix-free open channel potentiates high recovery that can be close to 100%. However, sample properties and separation conditions may induce carryover of sample components during AF4 analysis and in sample sequences. This compromises the quality of the data collected from the online detectors and the downstream offline analytics of the collected fractions. In this study, we followed sample carryover in AF4 using model viruses and analyzed various cleaning solutions and rinse methods to reduce carryover. We introduce an SDS-NaOH -based rinsing and decontamination protocol for the AF4 instrument enabling high-quality data collection.

Online matrix removal platform for coupling gel-based separations to whole protein electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A fractionation method called gel-eluted liquid fraction entrapment electrophoresis (GELFrEE) has been used to dramatically increase the number of proteins identified in top-down proteomic workflows; however, the technique involves the use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a surfactant that interferes with electrospray ionization. Therefore, an efficient removal of SDS is absolutely required prior to mass analysis. Traditionally, methanol/chloroform precipitation and spin columns have been used, but they lack reproducibility and are difficult to automate. Therefore, we developed an in-line matrix removal platform to enable the direct analysis of samples containing SDS and salts. Only small molecules like SDS permeate a porous membrane and are removed in a manner similar to cross-flow filtration. With this device, near-complete removal of SDS is accomplished within 5 min and proteins are subsequently mobilized into a mass spectrometer. The new platform was optimized for the analysis of GELFrEE fractions enriched for histones extracted from human HeLa cells. All four core histones and their proteoforms were detected in a single spectrum by high-resolution mass spectrometry. The new method versus protein precipitation/resuspension showed 2- to 10-fold improved signal intensities, offering a clear path forward to improve proteome coverage and the efficiency of top-down proteomics.

Characterisation of Fe-oxide nanoparticles coated with humic acid and Suwannee River natural organic matter

Iron oxide nanoparticles are becoming increasingly popular for various applications including the treatment of contaminated soil and groundwater; however, their mobility and reactivity in the subsurface environment are significantly affected by their tendency to aggregate. One solution to overcome this issue is to coat the nanoparticles with dissolved organic matter (DOM). The advantages of DOM over conventional surface modifiers are that DOM is naturally abundant in the environment, inexpensive, non-toxic and readily adsorbed onto the surface of metal oxide nanoparticles. In this study, humic acid (HA) and Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM) were tested and compared as surface modifiers for Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs). The DOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs were characterised by various analytical methods including: flow field-flow fractionation (FlFFF), high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of the coated NPs was then evaluated by assessing their aggregation and disaggregation behaviour over time. Results showed that both HA and SRNOM were rapidly and readily adsorbed on the surface of Fe2O3 NPs, providing electrosteric stabilisation over a wide range of pH. HPSEC results showed that the higher molecular weight components of DOM were preferentially adsorbed onto the surface of Fe2O3. As SRNOM consists of macromolecules with a higher molecular weight than HA, the measured size of the SRNOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs was 30% larger than the HA-coated Fe2O3 NPs. FTIR results indicated the occurrence of hydrogen bonding arising from electrostatic interaction between the DOM and Fe2O3 NPs. Finally, a stability study showed that after 14 days, small agglomerates and aggregates were formed. The HA-coated Fe2O3 NPs formed agglomerates which were easily disaggregated using a vortex mixer, with the coated NPs returning to their initial size. However, SRNOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs were only partially disaggregated using the same method, which indicates that these aggregates have a more compact structure.

Assessing the aggregation behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles under relevant environmental conditions using a multi-method approach

Iron nanoparticles are becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of contaminated soil and groundwater; however, their mobility and reactivity in subsurface environments are significantly affected by their tendency to aggregate. Assessing their stability under environmental conditions is crucial for determining their environmental fate. A multi-method approach (including different size-measurement techniques and the DLVO theory) was used to thoroughly characterise the behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3NPs) under environmentally relevant conditions. Although recent studies have demonstrated the importance of using a multi-method approach when characterising nanoparticles, the majority of current studies continue to use a single-method approach. Under some soil conditions (i.e. pH 7, 10 mM NaCl and 2 mM CaCl2) and increasing particle concentration, Fe2O3NPs underwent extensive aggregation to form large aggregates (>1 μm). Coating the nanoparticles with dissolved organic matter (DOM) was investigated as an alternative "green" solution to overcoming the aggregation issue instead of using the more commonly proposed polyelectrolytes. At high concentrations, DOM effectively covered the surface of the Fe2O3NPs, thereby conferring negative surface charge on the particles across a wide range of pH values. This provided electrostatic stabilisation and considerably reduced the particle aggregation effect. DOM-coated Fe2O3NPs also proved to be more stable under high ionic strength conditions. The presence of CaCl2, however, even at low concentrations, induced the aggregation of DOM-coated Fe2O3NPs, mainly via charge neutralisation and bridging. This has significant implications in regards to the reactivity and fate of these materials in the environment.

Blended fertilizers as draw solutions for fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis desalination

In fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination, the final nutrient concentration (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK)) in the product water is essential for direct fertigation and to avoid over fertilization. Our study with 11 selected fertilizers indicate that blending of two or more single fertilizers as draw solution (DS) can achieve significantly lower nutrient concentration in the FDFO product water rather than using single fertilizer alone. For example, blending KCl and NH(4)H(2)PO(4) as DS can result in 0.61/1.35/1.70 g/L of N/P/K, which is comparatively lower than using them individually as DS. The nutrient composition and concentration in the final FDFO product water can also be adjusted by selecting low nutrient fertilizers containing complementary nutrients and in different ratios to produce prescription mixtures. However, blending fertilizers generally resulted in slightly reduced bulk osmotic pressure and water flux in comparison to the sum of the osmotic pressures and water fluxes of the two individual DSs as used alone. The performance ratio or PR (ratio of actual water flux to theoretical water flux) of blended fertilizer DS was observed to be between the PR of the two fertilizer solutions tested individually. In some cases, such as urea, blending also resulted in significant reduction in N nutrient loss by reverse diffusion in presence of other fertilizer species.