Scientists Patented the Effective Microwave-Enhanced Membrane Filtration Technology

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Scientists Patented the Effective Microwave-Enhanced Membrane Filtration Technology

Dr. Wen Zhan and his team at the New Jersey Institute of Technology have designed a novel reactive membrane system with the ability to degrade water pollutants, such as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs),  and mitigate membrane fouling.

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In their study, Dr. Wen Zhang and his Ph.D. student, Wanyi Fu, utilized microwaves as the irradiation source to induce catalytic reactions on the membrane surface and enhance pollutant degradation. In contrast to other irradiation such as UV or ultrasonication, microwave is able to pass through industrial membrane filtration housing and enable membrane surface reactions.

This novel technique has been filed as a US patent and the research has been published in the Journal of Membrane Science recently. Zhang's team is also exploring ways to scale up the application of microwave-enhanced membrane filtration technology in drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, and landfill leachate treatment. With more studies, Zhang's lab soon hopes to demonstrate the feasibility of microwave-enhanced membrane filtration outside the lab for point-of-use (POU) water treatment devices for safe drinking water.

"There are challenges remaining in using the conventional treatment technologies for emerging pollutants treatment," said Dr. Wen Zhang, "so we need to design next-generation membrane techniques, which may integrate reactions into physical membrane separation."

Zhang's lab is now working on different types of reactive membrane systems: UV-based photocatalytic reactive membrane, electrochemical membrane, and microwave-enhanced membrane filtration, which demonstrate high potential for efficient removal of emerging pollutants and low-cost membrane operations.

Reference:

Wanyi Fu, Wen Zhang, "Microwave-enhanced membrane filtration for water treatment", Journal of Membrane Science, Volume 568, December 2018, DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2018.09.064

Source: PR News Wire

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