Inhibition of biofouling on reverse osmosis membrane surfaces by germicidal ultraviolet light side-emitting optical fibers

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dc.citation.articleNumber119094
dc.citation.journalTitleWater Research
dc.citation.volumeNumber224
dc.contributor.authorRho, Hojung
dc.contributor.authorYu, Pingfeng
dc.contributor.authorZhao, Zhe
dc.contributor.authorLee, Chung-Seop
dc.contributor.authorChon, Kangmin
dc.contributor.authorPerreault, François
dc.contributor.authorAlvarez, Pedro J.J.
dc.contributor.authorAmy, Gary
dc.contributor.authorWesterhoff, Paul
dc.contributor.orgNanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-29T15:06:21Z
dc.date.available2022-09-29T15:06:21Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractBiofouling of membrane surfaces poses significant operational challenges and costs for desalination and wastewater reuse applications. Ultraviolet (UV) light can control biofilms while reducing chemical usage and disinfection by-products, but light deliveries to membrane surfaces in spiral wound geometries has been a daunting challenge. Thin and flexible nano-enabled side-emitting optical fibers (SEOFs) are novel light delivery devices that enable disinfection or photocatalytic oxidation by radiating UV light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We envision SEOFs as an active membrane spacer to mitigate biofilm formation on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. A lab-scale RO membrane apparatus equipped with SEOFs allowed comparison of UV-A (photocatalysis-enabled) versus UV-C (direct photolysis disinfection). Compared against systems without any light exposure, systems with UV-C light formed thinner—but denser—biofilms, prevented permeate flux declines due to biofouling, and maintained the highest salt rejection. Results were corroborated by in-situ optical coherence tomography and ex-situ measurements of biofilm growth on the membranes. Transcriptomic analysis showed that UV-C SEOFs down-regulated quorum sensing and surface attachment genes. In contrast, UV-A SEOFs upregulated quorum sensing, surface attachment, and oxidative stress genes, resulting in higher extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) accumulation on membrane surfaces. Overall, SEOFs that deliver a low fluence of UV-C light onto membrane surfaces are a promising non-chemical approach for mitigating biofouling formation on RO membranes.
dc.identifier.citationRho, Hojung, Yu, Pingfeng, Zhao, Zhe, et al.. "Inhibition of biofouling on reverse osmosis membrane surfaces by germicidal ultraviolet light side-emitting optical fibers." <i>Water Research,</i> 224, (2022) Elsevier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119094.
dc.identifier.digital1-s2-0-S0043135422010405-main
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119094
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/113419
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rightsThis is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
dc.titleInhibition of biofouling on reverse osmosis membrane surfaces by germicidal ultraviolet light side-emitting optical fibers
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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