Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Three-Dimensionally Printed Microfluidic Cross-flow System for Ultrafiltration/Nanofiltration Membrane Performance Testing
Published on: February 13, 2016
Nanofiltration fouling propensity caused by wastewater effluent organic matters and surface-water dissolved organic
Wentao Shang1, Feiyun Sun1,2, Lichun Chen1
1a Shenzhen Graduate School, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen , People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Rejection of dissolved organic matters (DOMs) from wastewater treatment plant effluent (EfOM) and surface reservoir water (RW-DOM) by nanofiltration (NF) was comparatively studied to evaluate their influence on membrane fouling and to unveil the major causations. EfOM and RW-DOM were fractionated to determine the major components that preferentially form fouling layer and initiate biofouling. The results indicated that EfOM induced a rapid membrane permeability loss and a more complicated biofilm diversity than RW-DOM did. Hydrophilic components with small molecular weight (<3 kDa), and SMP in EfOM made a crucial contribution to membrane flux decline, while the hydrophobic large-molecular-weight components (>50 kDa) resulted in initially quick membrane fouling. The complex biofouling resulted from EfOM closely related with significant retention of SMP on the non-porous NF membrane surface, where the Proteobacteria phylum dominated the biofouling formed by microbial community growth and accumulation that gave rise to serious irreversible membrane fouling.
Related Concept Videos
Coagulation
Factors Affecting Solubility
Filtration
Biofilms
Solubility
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules,...
Factors Affecting Dissolution: Particle Size and Effective Surface Area

