Improved antifouling properties of polyethersulfone membranes modified with α-amylase entrapped in Tetronic® micelles

Effect of the Addition of Polyacrylic Acid of Different Molecular Weights to Coagulation Bath on the Structure and Performance of Polysulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes

Membrane fouling is a serious issue in membrane technology which cannot be completely avoided but can be diminished. The perspective technique of membrane modification is the introduction of hydrophilic polymers or polyelectrolytes into the coagulation bath during membrane preparation via non-solvent-induced phase separation. The influence of polyacrylic acid (PAA) molecular weight (100,000, 250,000 and 450,000 g·mol−1) added to the aqueous coagulation bath (0.4–2.0 wt.%) on the polysulfone membrane structure, surface roughness, water contact angle and zeta potential of the selective layer, as well as the separation and antifouling performance, was systematically studied. It was found that membranes obtained via the addition of PAA with higher molecular weight feature smaller pore size and porosity, extremely high hydrophilicity and higher values of negative charge of membrane surface. It was shown that the increase in PAA concentration from 0.4 wt.% to 2.0 wt.% for all studied PAA molecular weights yielded a substantial decrease in water contact angle compared with the reference membrane (65 ± 2°) (from 27 ± 2° to 17 ± 2° for PAA with Mn = 100,000 g·mol−1; from 25 ± 2° to 16 ± 2° for PAA with Mn = 250,000 g·mol−1; and from 19 ± 2° to 10 ± 2° for PAA with Mn = 450,000 g·mol−1). An increase in PAA molecular weight from 100,000 to 450,000 g·mol−1 led to a decrease in membrane permeability, an increase in rejection and tailoring excellent antifouling performance in the ultrafiltration of humic acid solutions. The fouling recovery ratio increased from 73% for the reference membrane up to 91%, 100% and 136% for membranes modified with the addition to the coagulation bath of 1.5 wt.% of PAA with molecular weights of 100,000 g·mol−1, 250,000 g·mol−1 and 450,000 g·mol−1, respectively. Overall, the addition of PAA of different molecular weights to the coagulation bath is an efficient tool to adjust membrane separation and antifouling properties for different separation tasks.

Review of Artificial Nacre for Oil–Water Separation

Due to their extraordinary prospective uses, particularly in the areas of oil–water separation, underwater superoleophobic materials have gained increasing attention. Thus, artificial nacre has become an attractive candidate for oil–water separation due to its superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity properties. Synthesized artificial nacre has successfully achieved a high mechanical strength that is close to or even surpasses the mechanical strength of natural nacre. This can be attributed to suitable synthesis methods, the selection of inorganic fillers and polymer matrices, and the enhancement of the mechanical properties through cross-linking, covalent group modification, or mineralization. The utilization of nacre-inspired composite membranes for emerging applications, i.e., is oily wastewater treatment, is highlighted in this review. The membranes show that full separation of oil and water can be achieved, which enables their applications in seawater environments. The self-cleaning mechanism’s basic functioning and antifouling tips are also concluded in this review.

Graph Clustering Analyses of Discontinuous Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Study of Lysozyme Adsorption on a Graphene Surface

Understanding the interfacial behaviors of biomolecules is crucial to applications in biomaterials and nanoparticle-based biosensing technologies. In this work, we utilized autoencoder-based graph clustering to analyze discontinuous molecular dynamics (DMD) simulations of lysozyme adsorption on a graphene surface. Our high-throughput DMD simulations integrated with a Go̅-like protein-surface interaction model makes it possible to explore protein adsorption at a large temporal scale with sufficient accuracy. The graph autoencoder extracts a low-dimensional feature vector from a contact map. The sequence of the extracted feature vectors is then clustered, and thus the evolution of the protein molecule structure in the absorption process is segmented into stages. Our study demonstrated that the residue-surface hydrophobic interactions and the π-π stacking interactions play key roles in the five-stage adsorption. Upon adsorption, the tertiary structure of lysozyme collapsed, and the secondary structure was also affected. The folding stages obtained by autoencoder-based graph clustering were consistent with detailed analyses of the protein structure. The combination of machine learning analysis and efficient DMD simulations developed in this work could be an important tool to study biomolecules' interfacial behaviors.

Alternative methods for cleaning membranes in water and wastewater treatment

Membrane fouling is caused by foulant deposition or adsorption through physical or chemical interactions on the membrane surface, causing the reduction of flux through the membrane. The main drawbacks of chemical agents used for cleaning are cost, damage caused on the membrane, and waste stream making the process unattractive. Alternative, methods such as ultrasound, enzymatic process, and osmotic backwashing were explored for membrane cleaning. Among all mentioned methods, micronanobubbles have been reported as a promising and emergent method for membrane surface cleaning; unfortunately, the information is limited, but preliminary studies have shown it as an efficient, cheap, and environmentally friendly technique. Other methods like electrically and vibratory-enhanced membrane cleaning also could be interesting but currently are unexplored and information is limited. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Chemical cleaning is an efficient option; however, from an environmental point of view, it is not attractive, and high concentrations could cause damage to the membrane. Micronanobubbles are an emergent and suitable technology for membrane and surface cleaning. Membrane modification and functionalization avoid membrane fast fouling, and the cleaning process is easier, but the manufacture cost could be expensive.

Biocatalytic membranes for combating the challenges of membrane fouling and micropollutants in water purification: A review

Over the last few years, the list of water contaminants has grown tremendously due to many anthropogenic activities. Various conventional technologies are available for water and wastewater treatment. However, micropollutants of emerging concern (MEC) are posing a great threat due to their activity at trace concentration and poor removal efficiency by the conventional treatment processes. Advanced technology like membrane technology can remove MEC to some extent. However, issues like the different chemical properties of MEC, selectivity, and fouling of membranes can affect the removal efficiency. Moreover, the concentrate from the membrane filtration may need further treatment. Enzymatic degradation of pollutants and foulants is one of the green approaches for removing various contaminants from the water as well as mitigating membrane fouling. Biocatalytic membranes (BCMs), in which enzymes are immobilized on membranes, combines the advantages of membrane separation and enzymatic degradation. This review article discussed various commonly used enzymes in BCMs for removing MEC and fouling. The majorly used enzymes were oxidoreductases and hydrolases for removing MEC, antifouling, and self-cleaning ability. The various BCM synthesis processes based on entrapment, crosslinking, and binding have been summarized, along with the effects of the addition of the nanoparticles on the performances of the BCMs. The scale-up, commercial viability, challenges, and future direction for improving BCMs have been discussed and shown bright possibilities for these new generation membranes.

Photo-immobilization of proteins on carbons

The photofunctionalization of three different carbons with two proteins was studied at room temperature. Water solutions of bovine serum albumin, BSA, and α-amylase, AA, were photolyzed at 21 °C in the presence of graphite microparticles (6.20 μm), MPG, graphene oxide, MPGO, and graphene oxide modified with SO₂, mMPGO. The insertion of BSA on carbon matrixes occurred with a deoxygenation reaction, most likely due to a dehydration step of a water molecule. XPS, TOC and TGA, showed that the BSA photo-insertion on MPG was highly efficient with 34.9% of the weight of MPG after photolysis, with an initial concentration of 1 g∙L^-1 of BSA. A high yield of AA photoinsertion on the carbons was also obtained. The calculated weight of AA inserted on MPG and MPGO after photolysis was 22.30% and 18.08%, respectively, with respect to the initial weight of carbon, when the initial concentration of AA was 60 mg∙L^-1. AA immobilized on MPG was active while the enzyme on MPGO showed a smaller activity, within the experimental error. Although a certain extent of denaturalization of both proteins was observed during photolysis, the molecular weight and composition changed very little during the photolysis, which would produce mainly conformational changes and isomerization reactions.