title: Realization of quantifying interfacial interactions between a randomly rough membrane surface and a foulant particle.
abstract: Quantification of interfacial interaction with randomly rough surface is the prerequisite to quantitatively understand and control the interface behaviors such as adhesion, flocculation and membrane fouling. In this study, it was found that membrane surface was randomly rough with obvious fractal characteristics. The randomly rough surface of membrane could be well reconstructed by the fractal geometry represented by a modified Weierstrass-Mandelbrot function. A novel method, which combined composite Simpson's approach, surface element integration method and approximation by computer programming, was developed. By using this method, this study provided the first realization of quantifying interfacial energy between randomly rough surface of membrane and a foulant particle. The calculated interactions with randomly rough surface of membrane were significantly different from those with smooth surface of membrane, indicating the significant effect of surface topography on interactions. This proposed method could be also potentially used to investigate various natural interface environmental phenomena.
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
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.
authors.forename: Liguo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, 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; Department of Chemical Engineering, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada.
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
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D005427:Flocculation; D017709:Fractals; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010316:Particle Size; D012722:Sewage; D055672:Static Electricity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Fractal dimension; Interfacial interactions; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling; Rough surface