Current Strategies for the Design
of Anti-fouling Ion-Exchange Membranes
Le Han
Abstract
Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) have been established as
a key component in industrial processes including water
desalination. Nevertheless, IEMs suffer different degrees of
fouling problems from cation-exchange membrane
(CEM) to anion-exchange membrane (AEM), which
significantly impedes the efficient application of this
membrane technology. Preparing anti-fouling membranes
is a fundamental strategy to deal with pervasive fouling
problems from a variety of foulants. In this review, the
category in diverse IEM materials and the fouling types are
firstly summarized. Then, based on the current understanding of the fouling mechanisms between the foulant
and membranes, two strategies of anti-fouling design for
future IEMs are commented, mitigation of fouling by
surface modification and by membrane synthesis. In
particular, current work regarding the membrane surfacial
coating/deposition by specific organic/inorganic materials
to tune the surface physicochemical properties and new
functional polymer block fabrication/development is discussed. Both the advantages and disadvantages are
reviewed on the current strategies.
Keywords
Ion-exchange membrane Á Anti-fouling Á Surface
modification Á Membrane synthesis
Abbreviations
A-3
Trianchor
DBS
Dodecylbenzene sulfonate
GO
Graphene oxide
HA
Humic acid
HACC-Ag
Np hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium
chloride chitosan–nanosilver particles
NB-8
Disodium salt a,x oligooxipropylene-bis
(o-urethane-2.4,2.6
tolueneurylbenzensulfonic acid)
PAH
Poly(allylamine hydrochloride)
PDA
Polydopamine
PDADMAC Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)
PS-DVB
Styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer
PSS
Poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate)
SDA
Sulfonated dopamine
SDBS
Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate
SDS
Sodium dodecyl sulfate
1 Introduction
The electromembrane-based separation having the advantages of excellent selectivity, low space and chemical
requirement, and operational simplicity has found its wide
applications in water treatment, involving the desalination of
complex saline solutions in food, beverage, drug and
chemical industries as well as in biotechnology and municipal wastewater (Ruan et al. 2018; Suwal et al. 2015; Jaroszek and Dydo 2016; Merle et al. 2011; Zeng et al. 2019;
Sarapulova et al. 2018; Lee et al. 2013). These processes are
considered as environment-friendly technology, where
migration of ions and charged solutes through ion-exchange
membranes (IEMs) often occurs. The representative processes include electrodialysis (ED), reverse electrodialysis
(RED), bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED), electromembrane filtration (EMF), electrodialysis with filtration
membrane (EDFM) and so on (Luiz et al. 2017; Tamburini
et al. 2017; İpekçi et al. 2018; Ponomarev et al. 1989;
Bazinet et al. 2012) (Table 1).
L. Han (&)
Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s
Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment
and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044,
People’s Republic of China
e-mail: lehan@cqu.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Z. Zhang et al. (eds.), Membrane Technology Enhancement for Environmental Protection
and Sustainable Industrial Growth, Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41295-1_2
13
of Anti-fouling Ion-Exchange Membranes
Le Han
Abstract
Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) have been established as
a key component in industrial processes including water
desalination. Nevertheless, IEMs suffer different degrees of
fouling problems from cation-exchange membrane
(CEM) to anion-exchange membrane (AEM), which
significantly impedes the efficient application of this
membrane technology. Preparing anti-fouling membranes
is a fundamental strategy to deal with pervasive fouling
problems from a variety of foulants. In this review, the
category in diverse IEM materials and the fouling types are
firstly summarized. Then, based on the current understanding of the fouling mechanisms between the foulant
and membranes, two strategies of anti-fouling design for
future IEMs are commented, mitigation of fouling by
surface modification and by membrane synthesis. In
particular, current work regarding the membrane surfacial
coating/deposition by specific organic/inorganic materials
to tune the surface physicochemical properties and new
functional polymer block fabrication/development is discussed. Both the advantages and disadvantages are
reviewed on the current strategies.
Keywords
Ion-exchange membrane Á Anti-fouling Á Surface
modification Á Membrane synthesis
Abbreviations
A-3
Trianchor
DBS
Dodecylbenzene sulfonate
GO
Graphene oxide
HA
Humic acid
HACC-Ag
Np hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium
chloride chitosan–nanosilver particles
NB-8
Disodium salt a,x oligooxipropylene-bis
(o-urethane-2.4,2.6
tolueneurylbenzensulfonic acid)
PAH
Poly(allylamine hydrochloride)
PDA
Polydopamine
PDADMAC Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)
PS-DVB
Styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer
PSS
Poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate)
SDA
Sulfonated dopamine
SDBS
Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate
SDS
Sodium dodecyl sulfate
1 Introduction
The electromembrane-based separation having the advantages of excellent selectivity, low space and chemical
requirement, and operational simplicity has found its wide
applications in water treatment, involving the desalination of
complex saline solutions in food, beverage, drug and
chemical industries as well as in biotechnology and municipal wastewater (Ruan et al. 2018; Suwal et al. 2015; Jaroszek and Dydo 2016; Merle et al. 2011; Zeng et al. 2019;
Sarapulova et al. 2018; Lee et al. 2013). These processes are
considered as environment-friendly technology, where
migration of ions and charged solutes through ion-exchange
membranes (IEMs) often occurs. The representative processes include electrodialysis (ED), reverse electrodialysis
(RED), bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED), electromembrane filtration (EMF), electrodialysis with filtration
membrane (EDFM) and so on (Luiz et al. 2017; Tamburini
et al. 2017; İpekçi et al. 2018; Ponomarev et al. 1989;
Bazinet et al. 2012) (Table 1).
L. Han (&)
Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s
Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment
and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044,
People’s Republic of China
e-mail: lehan@cqu.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Z. Zhang et al. (eds.), Membrane Technology Enhancement for Environmental Protection
and Sustainable Industrial Growth, Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41295-1_2
13