A review on membrane modification techniques for membrane fouling control: Mechanisms and membrane preparation
Lin Qi, Shilong Li, Liang Duan, Slav W. Hermanowicz, How Yong Ng
Abstract
The membrane modification is an important means to alleviate membrane fouling. Through reasonable modification methods, the key indicators such as anti-fouling performance, flux and selectivity of the membrane can be significantly improved. However, the influence of different modification methods on membrane fouling is various, and it is also an important problem whether the modification can optimize the treatment performance of the system at the same time. At present, there is still a lack of systematic understanding and summary of membrane fouling control mechanisms and related technologies. Therefore, through the analysis and extraction of the original literature, this review discusses the methods of different membrane technologies to reduce membrane fouling by modifying membrane materials and membrane structures. At present, the membrane modification methods mainly include loading photocatalytic particles, nano-metal particles and nonmetallic nanoparticles on the membrane surface. In this review, different membrane modification methods and preparation processes were summarized, and the control mechanisms of membrane fouling by modified membranes were analyzed. Loading different materials can change the surface properties of the membrane, increase the hydrophilicity of the membrane, reduce the roughness and alleviate the membrane fouling. However, the modification based on the membrane structure can fundamentally change some properties of the membrane. Changing the membrane structure to inhibit membrane fouling is also one of the main directions of membrane modification. It is hoped that this study can provide reference for membrane fouling control and promote the application of membrane modification technologies.