title: Printing-Assisted Surface Modifications of Patterned Ultrafiltration Membranes.
abstract: Understanding and restricting microbial surface attachment will enhance wastewater treatment with membranes. We report a maskless lithographic patterning technique for the generation of patterned polymer coatings on ultrafiltration membranes. Polyethylene glycol, zwitterionic, or negatively charged hydrophilic polymer compositions in parallel- or perpendicular-striped patterns with respect to feed flow were evaluated using wastewater. Membrane fouling was dependent on the orientation and chemical composition of the coatings. Modifications reduced alpha diversity in the attached microbial community (Shannon indices decreased from 2.63 to 1.89) which nevertheless increased with filtration time. Sphingomonas species, which condition membrane surfaces and facilitate cellular adhesion, were depleted in all modified membranes. Microbial community structure was significantly different between control, different patterns, and different chemistries. This study broadens the tools for surface modification of membranes with polymer coatings and for understanding and optimization of antifouling surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Desalination and Water Treatment, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede-Boqer Campus 84990, Israel.
authors.forename: Nathaniel C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Wardrip
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Chicago , 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States.|The Marine Biological Laboratory , Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dsouza
authors.affiliation: Argonne National Laboratory , Energy Systems Division, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urgun-Demirtas
authors.affiliation: Argonne National Laboratory , Energy Systems Division, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Seth W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: Argonne National Laboratory , BioSciences Division, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.|Department of Surgery, University of Chicago , 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States.|The Marine Biological Laboratory , Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States.
authors.forename: Jack A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Desalination and Water Treatment, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede-Boqer Campus 84990, Israel.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Arnusch
keywords: 3D printing; UV-initiated graft polymerization; fouling; maskless lithography; microbial community analysis; ultrafiltration membranes