AWWA MTC57654

The effect of reactive dye coupling as a post formation method to improve the performance of commercial water treatment membranes was the focus of this study. Specifically, the objective of this project was to characterize the impact of coupling a hydrophilic negatively charged dye to the membrane on the performance characteristics and flux decline in comparison with virgin membranes. The results of this testing indicate that the dye coupling structure modifications seemed to have increased the tested nanofiltration membranes' hydrophilicity, showing a positive effect. The effects of dye coupling on a highly hydrophobic polyether sulfone membrane, included an improvement of the initial specific flux by a considerable margin, a lower normalized flux decline, an increase in the absolute value of the negative charge of the membrane surface, and a decrease in biofouling and biodegradable organic matter fouling. Includes 52 references, table, figures.