Collaborative Research: Elucidating the Coupling of Inorganic Scaling and Organic Fouling in Reverse Osmosis Desalination: An Integrated Experimental and Computational Approach

合作研究：阐明反渗透海水淡化中无机结垢和有机污垢的耦合：一种综合实验和计算方法

• 批准号: 2143508
• 负责人: Xitong Liu
• 金额: $ 34.55万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2143508&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Elucidating; Coupling; Inorganic

Climate change and anthropogenic pollution are contributing to the increasing scarcity of freshwater resources in many regions around the globe. In the United States, water stress in arid and semi-arid regions poses a threat to food production, energy generation, and ecological and human health. Desalination technologies can harvest purified water from seawater, saline groundwater, and wastewater and are an important tool to combat water scarcity. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a commercial desalination technology that relies on the permeation of freshwater through a dense membrane under an applied pressure. Despite its widespread application, the RO process is vulnerable to performance decay caused by fouling, or the unwanted deposition of substances on the membrane surface. This research aims to understand the interplay between two common types of RO fouling: organic fouling caused by the adsorption of organic matter and inorganic scaling caused by the precipitation of minerals. The investigators will integrate experimental measurements with computational simulations to reveal how organic foulants and inorganic scale-forming substances interact with each other during RO desalination. The investigators will lead research-related public engagement and outreach activities at both George Washington University and Colorado State University. Water sustainability-themed workshops will be hosted for students from local communities in Washington, D.C., and Colorado. Reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the state-of-the-art desalination technology due to its exceptional energy efficiency. Although the existence of inorganic scalants and organic foulants is known to greatly constrain the performance of RO, the combined effects of inorganic scaling and organic fouling are not well understood. The overarching goal of this research project is to elucidate the interactions of inorganic scalants with organic foulants at the membrane-water interface. The investigators will study the performance of thin-film composite polyamide membranes under combined inorganic scaling and organic fouling in RO and unravel the mechanisms by which organic foulants impact mineral scaling. Advanced modeling approaches will be employed to simulate nucleation kinetics of mineral scales in the presence of organic foulants, elucidating the role of organic foulants in controlling mineral nucleation at the molecular level. The performance of anti-fouling membranes under combined scaling and fouling will also be examined to inform membrane design. The project will close a fundamental knowledge gap by (i) elucidating the effects of combined scaling and fouling on RO membrane performance, which cannot be predicted by existing knowledge of individual scaling or fouling, (ii) advancing mechanistic understanding of how organic foulants regulate mineral nucleation and growth at engineered membrane surfaces, and (iii) demonstrating how functional membrane surfaces that are intended to mitigate organic fouling will respond to combined scaling and fouling. Educational and outreach aspects of the project will incorporate research findings into undergraduate and graduate course materials, introduce water sustainability-themed workshops in local communities, and promote the participation of underrepresented students in research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

气候变化和人为污染导致全球许多地区淡水资源的稀缺性日益严重。在美国，干旱和半干旱地区的水压力对粮食生产，能源产生以及生态和人类健康构成威胁。海水淡化技术可以从海水，盐水地下水和废水中收集纯净的水，并且是打击缺水的重要工具。逆渗透（RO）是一种商业的淡化技术，它依赖于在施加压力下通过致密膜渗透的淡水。尽管应用了广泛应用，但RO过程很容易受到由结垢引起的性能衰减或物质在膜表面上的不良沉积。这项研究旨在了解两种常见类型的Ro污染类型之间的相互作用：由有机物的吸附和由矿物沉淀引起的无机缩放引起的有机结垢。研究人员将将实验测量与计算模拟整合在一起，以揭示有机污垢和无机尺度形成物质如何在RO脱盐过程中相互相互作用。研究人员将在乔治华盛顿大学和科罗拉多州立大学领导与研究相关的公共参与和外展活动。以水可持续性为主题的讲习班将为华盛顿特区和科罗拉多州当地社区的学生举办。逆渗透（RO）由于其出色的能源效率，目前是最先进的脱盐技术。尽管已知无机量表和有机污垢的存在极大地限制了RO的性能，但无机缩放和有机结构的综合作用尚不清楚。该研究项目的总体目标是阐明在膜 - 水界面上无机量表与有机污垢的相互作用。研究人员将研究薄膜复合材料聚酰胺膜在RO中的无机缩放和有机结构中的性能，并揭示有机污垢影响矿物质缩放的机制。将采用先进的建模方法来模拟有机污垢存在的矿物尺度的成核动力学，从而阐明了有机污垢在控制分子水平上控制矿物成核中的作用。还将检查在缩放率和结垢下的抗死膜的性能，以告知膜设计。该项目将通过（i）阐明缩放和结合对RO膜性能的效果来缩小基本知识差距，这无法通过对个体缩放或结垢的现有知识来预测，（ii）有机货运的机械理解，对机械派的机械理解如何调节矿物质成态和增长如何在工程膜表面上表现出效果的效果，并在（IIIII）中效果（IIIIIIII型），并在III中进行效果，并模拟了效果，并模拟了效果，并在iii III中进行了效果，并模拟了效果，并促进了模拟的效果。响应组合缩放和结垢。该项目的教育和外向方面将将研究结果纳入本科和研究生课程材料，在当地社区中引入以水的可持续性为主题的讲习班，并促进了代表性不足的学生参与研究的参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法规使命，并认为通过基金会的知识优点和广泛的crietia crietia criteria criteria criteria criteria criteria criteria crietia crietia criteria criteria crietia crietia criteria criteria crietia均值得一提。

项目成果

Tuning the surface functionality of polyamide films via termination reaction in molecular layer-by-layer deposition

• DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2022.120855
• 发表时间: 2022-08-27
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 9.5
• 作者: Stafford, Christopher M.;Guan, Xun;Liu, Xitong
• 通讯作者: Liu, Xitong