title: Effects of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of membrane on membrane fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor.
abstract: The interfacial interactions between sludge foulants and four different types of membranes were assessed based on a new combined calculation method. Effects of membrane surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity on the interfacial interactions were investigated. It was found that, membrane surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity was not directly relevant to the interfacial interactions with sludge particles. Increasing membrane surface zeta potential could significantly increase the strength of the electrostatic double layer (EL) interaction and the energy barrier. For membrane with a surface roughness of 300nm, the total interaction was continuously repulsive in the separation distance coverage of 0-4nm in this study. The results suggest that, under conditions in this study, designing membranes with a high zeta potential and certain roughness can significantly mitigate membrane fouling, whereas, the strategy of improving membrane surface hydrophilicity cannot alleviate sludge adhesion in the membrane bioreactor.
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Meijia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Bao-Qiang
authors.initials: BQ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Huachang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China. Electronic address: hjlin@zjnu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongjun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China. Electronic address: cjr@zjnu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Hydrophilicity; Interfacial interaction; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling; Rough surface