Access to pure drinking water is a global issue that effects a tremendous amount of people. Water filtration methods, such as desalination, can be used to increase the amount of drinking water available. These membrane-based methods are complicated by fouling, or clogging, of the membranes by biomolecules, which lowers the efficiency. Understanding what factors affect this process are crucial to developing better water purification techniques. To study these factors, a model system was used to investigate the role of membrane type and ionic strength on biofouling. A binary solution of hemoglobin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was tested with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic PVDF 0.22 µm membranes. PBS and MES buffer solutions at varying concentrations and pH = 6 were used to control for ionic strength. By comparing water flux decay graphs when the membrane or solution chemistry was changed, the role of these factors on biofouling was elucidated.<br/>

Insight into the importance of ionic strength and membrane type on biofouling of BSA and hemoglobin binary solutions

2019 Fall National Meeting

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