High Breakthrough Pressure in Hydrogels Enabled Ultrastable Treatment of Hypersaline Wastewaters.
Nano Lett
; 24(14): 4202-4208, 2024 Apr 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38547140
ABSTRACT
Surface effects of low-surface-tension contaminants accumulating at the evaporation surface easily induce wetting in membrane distillation, especially in hypersaline scenarios. Herein, we propose a novel strategy to eliminate the surface effect and redistribute contaminants at the evaporation interface simply by incorporating a layer of hydrogel. The as-fabricated composite membrane exhibits remarkable stability, even when exposed to solution with salt concentration of 5 M and surfactant concentration of 8 mM. Breakthrough pressure of the membrane reaches 20 bar in the presence of surfactants, surpassing commercial hydrophobic membranes by one to two magnitudes. Density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations reveal the important role of the hydrogel-surfactant interaction in suppressing the surface effect. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the membrane in stably processing synthetic wastewater containing 144 mg L-1 surfactants, 1 g L-1 mineral oils, and 192 g L-1 NaCl, showing its potential in addressing challenges of hypersaline water treatment.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nano Lett
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China