Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Composite Scaffolds of Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Fibers for Temporally Controlled Release of Biomolecules
Published on: August 19, 2015
Nanoplastics-mediated interfacial processes controlling perfluorooctanoic acid transport in forward osmosis
Mengying Yan1, Lijun Meng2, Nan Jiang3
1College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117585, Singapore.
Abstract:
Forward osmosis (FO) has gained attention as a low-pressure treatment option for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS frequently coexist with micro and nanoplastics (NPs) in contaminated waters, yet their combined influence on membrane separation remains insufficiently understood. In this study, a UiO-66-NH2 modified antifouling FO membrane was fabricated to investigate how NPs affect the rejection and transport of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA removal was evaluated under different membrane orientation, pH of the feed solution, draw solution salinity, coexisting PFAS species, and the presence of polystyrene-based NPs with different surface chemistries (PS, PS-NH2, PS-COOH). The membrane showed high PFOA rejection efficiency, which increased under alkaline conditions but declined at high draw-solution concentration due to reverse salt diffusion and charge screening. Coexisting PFAS with different chain lengths and pKa values altered PFOA rejection through competitive interactions at the membrane interface. Experimental evidence further showed that NP-related fouling strengthened external concentration polarization and promoted extra accumulation of PFOA near the membrane, with the extent of accumulation strongly dependent on NP surface chemistry, particularly electrostatic attraction for PS-NH2 and weaker interactions for PS and PS-COOH. These results demonstrate that NPs play an important role in PFAS transport during FO filtration and should be considered when evaluating mass-transfer behavior in complex waters. This work provides insights into the dual impact of coexisting PFAS and NPs on FO membrane performance and highlights the importance of mitigating cake-enhanced polarization in designing antifouling membranes for wastewater treatment.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Osmosis
Osmosis
Water, like other substances, moves from a high concentration of...
Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure of Solutions
Phloem and Sugar Transport
Carrier-Mediated Transport
Active transport involves two types of membrane-spanning transporters: uptake and efflux. Uptake transporters are expressed in the small...
Introduction to Statistical Process Control

