title: Spray- and spin-assisted layer-by-layer assembly of copper nanoparticles on thin-film composite reverse osmosis membrane for biofouling mitigation.
abstract: Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) have long been considered as highly effective biocides; however, the lack of suitable methods for loading CuNPs onto polymeric membranes is recognized as being one of the primary reasons for the limited research concerning their application in membrane industries. A highly efficient spray- and spin-assisted layer-by-layer (SSLbL) method was developed to functionalize the TFC polyamide RO membranes with controllable loading of CuNPs for biofouling control. The SSLbL method was able to produce a uniform bilayer of polyethyleneimine-coated CuNPs and poly(acrylic) acid in less than 1 min, which is far more efficient than the traditional dipping approach (25-60 min). The successful loading of CuNPs onto the membrane surface was confirmed by XPS analysis. Increasing the number of bilayers from 2 to 10 led to an increased quantity of CuNPs on the membrane surface, from 1.75 to 23.7 μg cm(-2). Multi-layer coating exhibited minor impact on the membrane water permeation flux (13.3% reduction) while retaining the original salt rejection ability. Both static bacterial inactivation and cross-flow filtration tests demonstrated that CuNPs could significantly improve anti-biofouling property of a polyamide membrane and effectively inhibit the permeate flux reduction caused by bacterial deposition on the membrane surface. Once depleted, CuNPs can also be potentially regenerated on the membrane surface via the same SSLbL method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.
authors.forename: Adel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soroush
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.
authors.forename: Tran
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Anh Luong
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada. Electronic address: saifur.rahaman@concordia.ca.
authors.forename: Md Saifur
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rahaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C5, Canada.
authors.forename: Bahareh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Asadishad
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C5, Canada.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tufenkji
mesh_terms: D057219:Biofouling; D003300:Copper; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009995:Osmosis; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D003300:Copper
keywords: Biofouling; Copper nanoparticles; Reverse osmosis; Spray- and spin-assisted layer-by-layer (SSLbL) self-assembly