Removal of insoluble barium scales from reverse osmosis membranes by grafting molecular springs

IF 9.8 1区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Desalination Pub Date : 2025-07-25 DOI:10.1016/j.desal.2025.119235

Xin Wen, Yuyan Hai, Rui Ma, Xu Liang, Yawei Duan, Jingyun Chen, Hui Wei, Rihua Xiong

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Abstract

Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been widely used in water treatment systems and exhibit outstanding separation performance. However, due to the complex composition of industrial wastewater, insoluble inorganic scales (e.g., barium sulfate) are difficult to remove from the membrane surface, which severely impairs the membrane performance. Herein, pH-responsive “molecular springs” were grafted onto the fouled polyamide RO membrane by directly penetrating the inorganic scale layers. The “molecular springs” stretch and shrink with pH variations, enabling the removal of barium sulfate scales through simple alkali-acid cleaning. The content of barium scales on the membrane surface was found to significantly decrease from 45.74 % to 0.61 %, resulting in an increase of membrane flux from 60.99 L/(m² h) to 71.94 L/(m² h). For the full size membrane modules, this study has also demonstrated that the insoluble scales on the industrial RO membrane can be removed as effectively and easily as the soluble scales by grafting “molecular springs”.

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接枝分子弹簧法去除反渗透膜上不溶性钡垢

反渗透（RO）膜在水处理系统中得到了广泛的应用，并具有优异的分离性能。然而，由于工业废水成分复杂，不溶性无机垢（如硫酸钡）难以从膜表面去除，严重影响了膜的性能。在这里，ph响应“分子弹簧”通过直接穿透无机垢层接枝到污染的聚酰胺反渗透膜上。“分子弹簧”随着pH值的变化而拉伸和收缩，从而通过简单的碱酸清洗去除硫酸钡鳞片。膜表面的钡垢含量从45.74%显著降低到0.61%，膜通量从60.99 L/(m2 h)增加到71.94 L/(m2 h)。对于全尺寸的膜组件，本研究也证明了通过接枝“分子弹簧”，工业反渗透膜上的不溶性鳞片可以像可溶性鳞片一样有效而容易地去除。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Desalination 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

14.60

自引率

20.20%

发文量

619

审稿时长

41 days

期刊介绍： Desalination is a scholarly journal that focuses on the field of desalination materials, processes, and associated technologies. It encompasses a wide range of disciplines and aims to publish exceptional papers in this area. The journal invites submissions that explicitly revolve around water desalting and its applications to various sources such as seawater, groundwater, and wastewater. It particularly encourages research on diverse desalination methods including thermal, membrane, sorption, and hybrid processes. By providing a platform for innovative studies, Desalination aims to advance the understanding and development of desalination technologies, promoting sustainable solutions for water scarcity challenges.