Abatement of the membrane biofouling: performance of an in-situ integrated bioelectrochemical-ultrafiltration system
File(s)SI-BES-UF 2020-01-08 revised version.docx (1.72 MB) BES-UF 2020-04-23 revised version.docx (2.31 MB)
Supporting information
Accepted version
Author(s)
Xu, Lei
Graham, Nigel JD
Wei, Chaocheng
Zhang, Li
Yu, Wenzheng
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The practical applications of membrane-based water treatment techniques are constrained by the problem of membrane fouling. Various studies have revealed that interactions between extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and the membrane surface determine the extent of irreversible fouling. Herein, we describe a novel bioelectrochemical system (BES) integrated with an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane in order to provide an enhanced antifouling property. It was found that the integrated BES membrane system had a superior performance compared to a conventional (control) UF system, as manifested by a much lower development of transmembrane pressure. The BES significantly reduced microbial viability in the membrane tank and the imposed electrode potential contributed to the degradation of biopolymers, which favored the alleviation of membrane fouling. Notably, the electron transfer between the acclimated microorganisms and the conductive membrane in the BES integrated system exhibited an increasing trend with the operation time, indicating a gradual increase in microbial electrical activity. Correspondingly, the accumulation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on the membrane surface of the BES integrated system showed a substantial decrease compared to the control system, which could be attributed to a series of synergistic effects induced by the BES integration. The differences in the microbial diversity between the control and the BES integrated system revealed the microbial selectivity of the poised potential. Specifically, microbial strains with relatively high EPS production, like the genus of Zoogloea and Methyloversatilis, were reduced significantly in the BES integrated system, while the expression of the electroactive bacteria was promoted, which facilitated extracellular electron transfer (EET) and therefore the bioelectrochemical reactions. Overall, this study has presented a feasible and promising new approach for membrane fouling mitigation during the process of water treatment.
Date Issued
2020-07-15
Date Acceptance
2020-04-25
Citation
Water Research, 2020, 179
ISSN
0043-1354
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Water Research
Volume
179
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32388047
PII: S0043-1354(20)30429-2
Grant Number
PIIF-GA-2012-328867
Subjects
Bioelectrochemical system
Electroactive bacteria
Electron transfer
Extracellular polymeric substance
Membrane fouling
Ultrafiltration
Biofouling
Biopolymers
Membranes, Artificial
Ultrafiltration
Water Purification
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
ARTN 115892
Date Publish Online
2020-05-04