Water treatment membrane performance and functionality can be enhanced by incorporating nanomaterials in or on the active layer. Addition of nanomaterials can lead to increased water permeability, reduced membrane fouling, and added functions to membrane surface that change selectivity, electrical conductance, and thermal properties. We will demonstrate a new scalable spray coating technique to modify water treatment membranes surfaces with nanomaterials. We will discuss the use of the aerosol impact-driven assembly (AIDA) to spray nanomaterials on PVDF ultrafiltration (UF) membranes at varying loadings of silver and gold nanoparticles with different surface functionalities. We will discuss our results in terms of dispersion and agglomeration of nanoparticles (<i>e.g.</i>, uniformity), stability of nanoparticles coating, impact of nanoparticles surface charge on loading, deposition efficiency, impact of nanoparticle coating on water permeability, and the scalability of this technique. This spray coating technique shows advantages over other nanoparticles coating methods for membranes particularly the ability to control loading and dispersion as well as the ability to deposit multiple types of nanomaterials at once. Furthermore, we will discuss scalability and integration of AIDA spray coating method into current membrane manufacturing (e.g. coating at a rate of 1 m<sup>2</sup> per minute). Finally, we will indicate areas of future research and application of the AIDA spray coating technique. Overall, spray coating with AIDA is a promising method for nanomaterials deposition that is flexible and scalable.

Nanoparticle spray coating with aerosol impact-driven assembly is a versatile and scalable technique for increasing water treatment membrane functionality

256th National Meeting (2018)

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