Development and Extension of Seawater Desalination by Reverse Osmosis

Seawater desalination has been peoples fond dream since ancient times, the dream is now becoming a reality. This paper presents a brief development history of reverse osmosis. Much attention was paid to innovative development in membranes, modules, equipments and applied technology, including asymmetric and composite membranes, spiral-wound element and hollow fiber module, energy recovery equipments and different technological processes. The extension of reverse osmosis, such as desalination, pre-concentration, integrated processes and nanofiltration, is also briefly mentioned.

Surface modification of polypiperazine-amide membrane by self-assembled method for dye wastewater treatment

Polypiperazine-amide membranes were modified with poly(ethyleneimine)(PEI) by self-assembled method,through which PEI molecules were fixed on the membrane surface by ionic interaction. In the experiments,the PEI concentration ranged from 50 to 2000 mg·L-1while the depositing time was fixed at 20 min. The results showed that low PEI concentration resulted in a slight increase of pure water flux, which was attributed to the enhanced membrane surface hydrophilicity. The PEI adsorption on membrane surface had less effect on the rejections to neutral PEG and sucrose, but improved the rejections to divalent cationic ions and methylene blue as the result of reversion of the membrane surface charge from negative to positive according to the XPS analysis and zeta potential measurements. The membrane modified at PEI = 1500 mg·L-1exhibited high rejection to methylene blue(MB) and is potential to be applied in the treatment of effluents containing positively charged dyes.

Synthesis and Characterization of the Polyacrylonitrile-block- poly(methyl acrylate) by RAFT Technique

Polyacrylonitrile-block-poly（methyl acrylate）（P（AN-b-MA）） was synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer （RAFT） polymerization employing macro-RAFT agent （PAN-RAFT） as the chain transfer agent and azobis（isobutyronitrile） （AIBN） as the initiator. A linear relationship between ln（[M]0/[M]1） and reaction time was observed. The molecular structure of P（AN-b-MA） was characterized by ^1H-NMR, element analysis, FTIR and SEC. The molecular weight distribution （MWD） was less than 1.40, the Mn could be controled from 0.733 to 4.834×10^4, and the molar content of MA in P（AN-b-MA） were from 15.6 to 75.0 percentage, respectively.

Flower-like Bi_2WO_6/ZnO composite with excellent photocatalytic capability under visible light irradiation

The photocatalytic ability of ZnO is improved through the addition of flower‐like Bi2WO6 to prepare a Bi2WO6/ZnO composite with visible light activity.The composite is characterized by X‐ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy,scanning electron microscopy with UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy,X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and N2 adsorption‐desorption isotherms.After modification,the band gap energy of Bi2WO6/ZnO is reduced from 3.2 eV for ZnO to 2.6 eV.Under visible light irradiation,the Bi2WO6/ZnO composite shows an excellent photocatalytic activity for degrading methylene blue(MB)and tetracycline.The photo‐degradation efficiencies of(0.3:1)Bi2WO6/ZnO for MB and tetracycline are approximately 246 and 4500 times higher than those of bare ZnO,respectively,and correspondingly,the photo‐degradation rates for the two pollutants are approximately 120 and 200 times higher than those with bare ZnO,respectively.Moreover,the photocatalyst of(0.3:1)Bi2WO6/ZnO exhibits a higher transient photocurrent density of approximately 4.5μA compared with those of bare Bi2WO6 and ZnO nanoparticles.The successful recombination of Bi2WO6 and ZnO enhances the photocatalytic activity and reduces the band gap energy of ZnO,which can be attributed to the effective separation of electron–hole pairs.Active species trapping experiments display that[O2]-is the major species involved during photocatalysis rather than·OH and h+.This study provides insight into designing a meaningful visible‐light‐driven photocatalyst for environmental remediation.

Homogeneous CO_(3)O_(4) film electrode with enhanced oxygen evolution electrocatalysis via surface reduction

Homogeneous NaBH_(4)-reduced Co_(O)_(4) thin film electrodes with enhanced oxygen evolution electrocatalysis were obtained via a controlled-synthesis route.Firstly CoOx colloids were synthesized via ethylene glycol solvothermal method and cast on conductive glass substrates.The oxygen evolution reaction(OER) electrocatalysis of these asprepared CO_(3)O_(4) thin films were then significantly enhanced via a simple surface reduction by NaBH_(4) solution.The OER catalytic performance of the NaBH_(4)-reduced thin films was strongly dependent on the NaBH_(4) concentration.The use of NaBH_(4)-reduced thin film electrodes for OER in alkaline solution supported higher current density and consequently negative shifts of the onset potential compared to that of the pristine.The optimal B_(12.5,20)-CO_(3)O_(4) thin films exhibited excellent OER catalytic performances:At the current density of 10 mA·cm^(-2),a low overpotential of 365 mV and a small Tafel slope of 59.0 mV·dec^(-1) were observed.In addition,these B_(12.5,20)-CO_(3)O_(4) thin film electrodes possessed good stability that can well recover its OER performance in a 24-h chronoamperometric stability test.

Study on Pervaporation Membranes for Removing Methanol from C_5 or Methyl Tert-butyl Ether Mixtures

Several pervaporation membranes, cellulose acetate (CA), polyvinylbutyral (PVB), poly(MMA-co-AA), MMA-AA-BA, CA/PVB blend and CA/poly(MMA-co-AA) blend, were prepared, and their pervaporation properties were evaluated by separation of methanol/C5 or methanol/MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether). The results shows that the CA composite membrane has a high separation performance (flux Jmenthanol =350g.m-2.h-1 and separation factor a > 400) for methanol/C5 mixtures, and the pervaporation characteristics of MMA-AA-BA copolymer membranes changes with the ratio of copolymer. For CA/poly(MMA-co-AA) blend membrane, the pervaporation performance is improved in comparison with CA or poly(MMA-co-AA) membrane. From the experiment of CA/PVB blend membranes for methanol/MTBE mixture, it is found that the compatibility of blends may affect the separation features of blend membrane.

Hydrological Modeling in a Semi-Arid Catchment Using SWAT Model

In the field of the water resources, hydrologic models have been used to assess water quality performance of complex watersheds and river basins. Hydrologic models can provide essential information for making decisions on sustainable management system of water resources within watersheds. The main objective of this study was to validate the performance of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool （SWAT） and the feasibility of using this model as a simulator of runoff at a catchment scale in semi-arid area in Northwestern Tunisia. Calibration and validation of the model output were performed by comparing predicted runoff with corresponding measurements from the Sarrath outlet for the periods 1990-1995 for calibration and 2000-2005 for validation. The time series for the years 1996-1999 showed discrepancies between the measured rainfall and the observed runoff indicating errors due to either the observations or to a dysfunction in the equipments. Sensitivity analysis shows that sensitive parameters for the simulation of discharge include curve number, soil evaporation compensation factor, depth of water in shallow aquifer and slope of subbasin. Statistical comparisons between monthly simulated results and observed data for the calibration period gave a reasonable agreement with a coefficient of determination （R2） greater than 0.75 and Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient （NSE） equal to 0.72. These values were respectively 0.70 and 0.64 for validation period. Overall, the SWAT model has the capability to predict runoff within a complex semi-arid catchment.