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    Natural organic matter removal and fouling resistance properties of a boron nitride nanosheet-functionalized thin film nanocomposite membrane and its impact on permeate chlorine demand

    Year: 2020

    Journal: J. Water Process. Eng., Volume 34, APR

    Authors: Abdikheibari, Sara; Dumee, Ludovic F.; Jegatheesan, Veeriah; Mustafa, Zainab; Le-Clech, Pierre; Lei, Weiwei; Baskaran, Kanagaratnam

    Organizations: Deakin University; Melbourne Water; ARCAustralian Research Council [DE180100130]

    Keywords: Thin film nanocomposite membrane; Boron nitride nanosheets BN(NH2); Natural organic matter removal; Fouling resistance; AQUASIM simulation

    Nanofiltration (NF) is an attractive surface water treatment option for the enhanced removal of natural organic matter (NOM) to comply with the regulations of potentially toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation. However, organic fouling has remained an unresolved issue which makes the process less cost-effective. To address this problem, the current study reports on the fabrication of a new thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane incorporated with and decorated by amine-functionalized boron nitride BN(NH2) nanosheets. Physicochemical investigations revealed 60 and 40 % enhancement in hydrophilicity and negative charge density of the modified membranes, respectively, which translated into 69 % improvement in flux as well as boosted NOM removal and fouling resistance compared with control counterparts. Additionally, the modified membranes exhibited a better filtration performance under detrimental solution chemistry conditions of low pH and high Ca2+ concentration. Liquid chromatography coupled with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) profiles and fluorescence excitation emission matrices (FEEM) demonstrated the capability of the modified membranes in removing humics and lower molecular-sized compounds from water as opposed to moderate removals achieved in a conventional water treatment plant. Finally, AQUASIM simulations showed the lower chlorine demand of the NF-treated water which can reflect on its decreased DBPs formation potential.
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