title: Hydrophilic Mineral Coating of Membrane Substrate for Reducing Internal Concentration Polarization (ICP) in Forward Osmosis.
abstract: Internal concentration polarization (ICP) is a major issue in forward osmosis (FO) as it can significantly reduce the water flux in FO operations. It is known that a hydrophilic substrate and a smaller membrane structure parameter (S) are effective against ICP. This paper reports the development of a thin film composite (TFC) FO membrane with a hydrophilic mineral (CaCO3)-coated polyethersulfone (PES)-based substrate. The CaCO3 coating was applied continuously and uniformly on the membrane pore surfaces throughout the TFC substrate. Due to the intrinsic hydrophilicity of the CaCO3 coating, the substrate hydrophilicity was significantly increased and the membrane S parameter was reduced to as low as the current best of cellulose-based membranes but without the mechanical fragility of the latter. As a result, the ICP of the TFC-FO membrane could be significantly reduced to yield a remarkable increase in water flux without the loss of membrane selectivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260.
authors.forename: Jingguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260.
authors.forename: Zhengzhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260.
authors.forename: Jim Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee