Surface modification by zwitterionic amino acid L-DOPA to increase fouling resistance of forward osmosis membranes

L. Zou, A. Nguyen, S. Azari

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

As the forward osmosis (FO) process utilizes natural osmosis as the pressure source, the energy demand can be significantly reduced compared with other pressure-driven processes, such as RO. In a surface-modification study conducted by the authors, membrane surfaces were coated with zwitterionic polymer 3-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)-L-alanine (L-DOPA) to increase the fouling resistance of the membrane. The relationship between the zwitterionic coating and the improved antifouling effect was investigated by observing filtration flux and quantifying the change of water contact angle on the membrane surfaces. L-DOPA has both positively and negatively charged zwitterionic heads, which could lead to antifouling properties; it is also exceptionally adhesive to various surfaces, making it an ideal antifouling coating. One factor that affects the fouling behavior of FO membrane is the internal concentration polarization (ICP).

Original languageBritish English
Title of host publicationForward Osmosis
Subtitle of host publicationFundamentals and Applications
PublisherAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Pages199-216
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9780784479230
ISBN (Print)9780784414071
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2015

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