(382j) Engineered, Low-Cost Membranes for Municipal Wastewater Treatment

The growing population is leading to generation of high volumes of municipal wastewater. At the same time, water is getting depleted and is not sufficient to meet the increasing demands. Therefore, water reclamation is one of the ways forward to address this concern [1]. Furthermore, municipal wastewater treatment will lead to environmental protection and public health maintenance. In this context, membrane technology has emerged as a promising solution for treating municipal wastewater [2]. However, maintaining a high flux and good antifouling properties is challenging with membranes.

This study prepared a low-cost, high-performing functional polyacrylonitrile membrane via optimized manufacturing conditions for efficient municipal wastewater treatment. The characterization results indicated that the membrane had finger-like structures in its cross-section. The membrane was hydrophilic and had thermal stability compared to the pristine membrane. The membrane showed almost twice as much pure water flux than the pristine membranes. The membranes were tested with municipal wastewater. The filtration results showed that the flux recovery with the functional membranes was about 82%. Significantly high COD removal was also achieved. The performance of the prepared (functional) membranes was comparable to or higher than the literature-reported membranes to treat municipal wastewater. Based on the results obtained so far, it can be concluded that the prepared (functional) membrane holds promise to treat municipal wastewater, and further testing of the membrane with natural municipal wastewater is in progress.

References:

1. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/wastewater-challenges-and-o… (Access on April 08, 2024)
2. Obotey Ezugbe, E., & Rathilal, S. Membrane technologies in wastewater treatment: A review. Membranes, 10(5) (2020) 89.