1. Enhanced Non-Fouling Membranes for Water Purification and Recycling Superfund Research Program Small Business Water Innovation Progress in Research Session I – Sustainable Approaches to Remediation
NIH-NIEHS SBIR Phase I Grant #: 1R43ES
Program Manager: Heather Henry
PI/PL: David Battaglia (Lynntech)
Subcontractor: Prof. Emmanuel Giannelis (Cornell University)

2. Project Summary
Objective: Develop anti-fouling osmosis membrane technology for the purification of contaminated waste water sources
Areas Needing Improvement
Loss of water flow due to membrane pore plugging
Mineral scaling
Reduce membrane/system maintenance
Reduce/eliminate chemical degradation of the membrane
Solution: Enhance existing osmosis membranes using precise surface coatings
Graphene oxide (linked using polydopamine)
Superhydrophilic nanoparticles

3. Combination of Organic and Inorganic Foulants
Membrane Fouling
Liu et al., J. Mem. Sci., 2014
Lynntech
Combination of Organic and Inorganic Foulants
Alginate + Gypsum (CaSO4)

4. Polyamide/Polydopamine/ Graphene Oxide/ Superhydrophilic Nanoparticles
Membrane Enhancement
1 µm
1 µm
1 µm
Polyamide Membrane
Common Osmosis Membrane
Forward Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis
Water Contact Angle = 70
Polyamide/Polydopamine/ Graphene Oxide
Improved Stability Against Mineral Scaling
Water Contact Angle = 69
Polyamide/Polydopamine/ Graphene Oxide/ Superhydrophilic Nanoparticles
Improved Stability Against Organic and Inorganic Foulants
Water Contact Angle = 13

5. Membrane Testing Testing Conditions 12 Hr Initial Water 48 Hr Alginate
48 Hr Gypsum
30 min Cleaning
12 Hr Water
Tested Foulants: Alginate, BSA, SWRM, CaSO4
Tested Membranes: Polyamide, Cellulose Acetate

6. Next Steps Membranes Testing Outside Testing
Multiple types of osmosis membranes
Continue to enhance superhydrophilic nature
Scale up
Graphene Oxide Coating
Superhydrophilic nanoparticle coating
Testing
Reverse Osmosis
Forward Osmosis
Outside Testing
Waste water testing
3rd Party Testing

7. │ Thank you for your attendance and participation