MORE | Summer 2020

Electrospun Pretreatment Membranes

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a well-researched technology among the pressure driven processes to produce potable water and RO membranes are susceptible to fouling that hinders the efficiency. Therefore, this work aims to fabricate hydrophilic pretreatment membranes by blending two polymers via dual electrospinning process to prevent the effects of fouling. These membranes were subjected to various characterization tests for functional group conformity, filtration and tensile tests for validating membrane performance. The next steps are anti-fouling tests to substantiate the hypothesis of preventing fouling with hydrophilicity and functionalizing polymers with ligands to extend their application.