Janus Distillation Membrane via Mussel-Inspired Inkjet Printing Modification for Anti-Oil Fouling Membrane Distillation
Morteza Afsari,
Myoung Jun Park,
Noel Jacob Kaleekkal,
Mxolisi M. Motsa,
Ho Kyong Shon,
Leonard Tijing
Affiliations
Morteza Afsari
Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, P.O. Box 123, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Myoung Jun Park
Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, P.O. Box 123, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Noel Jacob Kaleekkal
Membrane Separation Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), Kozhikode 673601, India
Mxolisi M. Motsa
Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (iNanoWS), College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1709, South Africa
Ho Kyong Shon
Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, P.O. Box 123, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Leonard Tijing
Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, P.O. Box 123, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
In this work, inkjet printing technology was used to print a thin layer of a hydrophilic solution containing polydopamine as a binder and polyethyleneimine as a strong hydrophilic agent on a commercial hydrophobic membrane to produce a Janus membrane for membrane distillation. The pristine and modified membranes were tested in a direct-contact membrane distillation system with mineral oil-containing feedwater. The results revealed that an integrated and homogenous hydrophilic layer was printed on the membrane with small intrusions in the pores. The membrane, which contained three layers of inkjet-printed hydrophilic layers, showed a high underwater oil contact angle and a low in-air water contact angle. One-layer inkjet printing was not robust enough, but the triple-layer coated modified membrane maintained its anti-oil fouling performance even for a feed solution containing 70 g/L NaCl and 0.01 v/v% mineral oil concentration with a flux of around 20 L/m2h. This study implies the high potential of the inkjet printing technique as a facile surface modification strategy to improve membrane performance.