Abstract Current cleaning strategies for biofouling control on spiral wound membrane systems used for seawater desalination are not effective and can hinder long-term membrane performance. To enable effective cleaning of a membrane, we examined the in-situ application and the use of a sacrificial multilayer polyelectrolyte coating on the membrane surface. The membrane coating was based on a layer-by-layer assembly approach using two non-toxic linkers, poly (diallyl-dimethyl ammonium chloride) and poly(sodium-4-styrene sulfonate). This polyelectrolyte coating was effectively applied on the membrane surface under cross-flow conditions, and it was stable on the membrane surface under continuous operation. Coating removal requires only a concentrated sodium chloride solution (synthetic brine in our study) adjusted to pH 11. Using this procedure, both the biofilm and the sacrificial layer could be simultaneously removed, leaving a clean surface compared to the non-coated membrane. Biofouling tests showed that the coated membrane had two-fold higher permeate flux recovery than the control non-coated membrane. The used polyelectrolyte sacrificial coatings avoided the use of toxic linkers and harsh cleaning chemicals, and thus it is a suitable technique for biofouling control on reverse osmosis spiral wound membranes.

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用于膜系统生物污染控制的牺牲涂层开发

摘要 目前用于海水淡化的螺旋缠绕膜系统生物污垢控制的清洁策略无效，并且会阻碍膜的长期性能。为了能够有效清洁膜，我们检查了原位应用和膜表面牺牲性多层聚电解质涂层的使用。膜涂层基于使用两种无毒接头聚（二烯丙基二甲基氯化铵）和聚（4-苯乙烯磺酸钠）的逐层组装方法。这种聚电解质涂层在错流条件下有效地涂覆在膜表面，并且在连续操作下在膜表面上是稳定的。涂层去除只需要将 pH 值调整为 11 的浓氯化钠溶液（我们研究中的合成盐水）。使用此程序，生物膜和牺牲层都可以同时去除，与未涂覆的膜相比，留下一个干净的表面。生物污染测试表明，涂层膜的渗透通量回收率是对照未涂层膜的两倍。所使用的聚电解质牺牲涂层避免了使用有毒接头和刺激性清洁化学品，因此它是一种适用于反渗透螺旋缠绕膜生物污垢控制的技术。