title: Relating Silica Scaling in Reverse Osmosis to Membrane Surface Properties.
abstract: We investigated the relationship between membrane surface properties and silica scaling in reverse osmosis (RO). The effects of membrane hydrophilicity, free energy for heterogeneous nucleation, and surface charge on silica scaling were examined by comparing thin-film composite polyamide membranes grafted with a variety of polymers. Results show that the rate of silica scaling was independent of both membrane hydrophilicity and free energy for heterogeneous nucleation. In contrast, membrane surface charge demonstrated a strong correlation with the extent of silica scaling (R2> 0.95, p < 0.001). Positively charged membranes significantly facilitated silica scaling, whereas a more negative membrane surface charge led to reduced scaling. This observation suggests that deposition of negatively charged silica species on the membrane surface plays a critical role in silica scale formation. Our findings provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms governing silica scaling in reverse osmosis and highlight the potential of membrane surface modification as a strategy to reduce silica scaling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, United States.|Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut, United States.
authors.forename: Tiezheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin University , Tianjin 300072, P. R. China.|Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, United States.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, United States.
authors.forename: Chanhee
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, United States.
authors.forename: Sara M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, United States.|Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Yale University , New Haven, Connecticut, United States.
authors.forename: Menachem
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4186-1563
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elimelech
mesh_terms: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D009995:Osmosis; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D013499:Surface Properties; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012822:Silicon Dioxide