From dispersed nanodiscs to thin films of layered organic material via reversible swelling

We show that nanodiscs stabilized with polymers order and pile up on a surface upon drying. The resulting surface films with an average thickness of one micron are made of collapsed cohesive layers with smectic long-range order. This occurs with and without plastifying stabilizing polymer and produces crevasses. The stacked discs undergo a two-to-three-dimensional crystallization while bottom layers close to the surface fuse and produce infinite bilayers. Small angle X-ray scattering experiments demonstrate that excess polymer is segregated from the crystalline stack. Water adsorption isotherms show that reversible swelling of the excess polymer does not destroy the compact stack of partially fused nanodiscs collapsed parallel to the surface. In the absence of chemical binding, the stacks of layered nanodiscs can be removed by simple washing with pure water. AFM, TEM and SEM experiments demonstrate that presence of crevasses is quenched by the presence of a plastifying polymer.     

Osmotic and activity coefficients of the sodium salts of formic,acetic and propionic acids

Osmotic and activity coefficients are reported for the sodium salts of formic, acetic and propionic acids to the limits of their solubilities. Hydration of the second kind appears to increase with the length of the hydrocarbon chains. The onset of micelle formation is indicated in the more concentrated sodium propionate solutions.     

Free-solvent model shows osmotic pressure is the dominant factor in limiting flux during protein ultrafiltration

In protein ultrafiltration (UF), the limiting flux phenomenon has been generally considered a consequence of the presence of membrane fouling or the perceived formation of a cake/gel layer that develops at high operating pressures. Subsequently, numerous theoretical models on gel/cake physics have been made to address how these factors can result in limiting flux. In a paradigm shift, the present article reestablishes the significance of osmotic pressure by examining its contribution to limiting flux in the framework of the recently developed free solvent osmotic pressure model. The resulting free-solvent-based flux model (FSB) uses the Kedem–Katchalsky model, film theory and the free solvent representation for osmotic pressure in its development. Single protein tangential-flow diafiltration experiments (30 kDa MWCO CRC membranes) were also conducted using ovalbumin (OVA, 45 kDa), bovine serum albumin (BSA, 69 kDa), and immuno-gamma globulin (IgG, 155 kDa) in moderate NaCl buffered solutions at pH 4.5, 5.4, 7 and 7.4. The membrane was preconditioned to minimize membrane fouling development during the experimental procedure. The pressure was randomly selected and flux and sieving were determined. The experimental results clearly demonstrated that the limiting flux phenomenon is not dominated by membrane fouling and the FSB model theoretically illustrates that osmotic pressure is the primary factor in limiting flux during UF. The FSB model provides excellent agreement with the experimental results while producing realistic protein wall concentrations. In addition, the pH dependence of the limiting flux is shown to correlate to the pH dependency of the specific protein diffusion coefficient.     

Application of the Swimming Pool Backwash Water Recovery System with the Use of Filter Tubes

During the operation of swimming pools, large losses of water from the backwash of swimming pool filters are observed. This water is often discharged into sewers or used to sprinkle sports grounds. The aim of the research was to design and build an installation for purification and recovery of backwash water (BWW). It consists of flocculation, pre-filtration, and ultrafiltration based on filter tubes and ozone disinfection. Backwash water treatment installation contributes to purification and improvement of water quality. The effectiveness of the removal of microbial contamination with the use of the system was over 99%. The high efficiency of removing physicochemical impurities was also achieved. Water turbidity was reduced from 96.9 NTU to 0.13 NTU. After using the system, the oxidability of water decreased from 6.26 mg O₂∙dm⁻³ to 0.4 mg O₂∙dm⁻³. When using the system, a reduction of total organic carbon by 80% was also noticed. After the treatment process, water meets the strict criteria and can be returned to the pool system of water as fresh water with parameters of supply water—directly to the overflow tank. It has been shown that up to 96% of water can be recovered with the technology. The cost comparison showed annual savings of over EUR 9000.     

Osmotic and activity coefficients of aqueous bile salt solutions at 25, 37, and 45°C

Osmotic coefficients measured by vapor pressure osmometry are reported for aqueous bile salt solutions at 25, 37, and 45°C. Solute activities decrease rapidly with increasing concentration due to premicellar association and micelle formation. In all cases, activities of the dihydroxy bile salts are lower than those of the trihydroxy bile salts. Osmotic coefficients and activity coefficients increase with increasing temperature. It is suggested that hydrophobic forces contribute substantially to the stability of primary bile salt aggregates and micelles.     

A differential approach to calculating osmotic equilibrium for multisolvent systems

A differential approach to the calculation of osmotic pressure of multisolvent systems within the Lewis–Randall framework is presented in this paper. Exact differential equations relating the osmotic pressure and the system composition along paths of constant solvent chemical potential are obtained and numerically solved. Although even for the simple case of an ideal solution no analytic expression for the osmotic pressure can be obtained, the system of differential equations does not pose numerical difficulties to be solved. Examples of the use of the proposed methodology are presented using the two-suffix Margules and Flory–Huggins equations, allowing an assessment of the influence of liquid-phase non-ideality on the performance of the method, and showing that it can be applied even for systems wherein liquid–liquid phase equilibrium occurs.     

Effect of colloids on salt transport in crossflow nanofiltration

The role of colloid deposition on the performance of a salt-rejecting NF membrane was evaluated by modeling salt transport using a two-layer transport model, which quantified the relative contributions of advection and diffusion in the cake and the membrane layers, and the effects of flux on the membrane sieving coefficient. The model was able to accurately describe how the measured permeate concentration, rejection, osmotic pressure, and flux decline varied with time. The two-layer model confirmed that the Peclet number in the cake layer was about an order of magnitude higher than that in the membrane layer, leading to significant concentration polarization at the membrane surface, as shown by others. However, the cake layer also increased overall resistance, which resulted in flux decline during constant pressure operation. Flux decline caused an increase in the actual sieving coefficient, leading to higher solute flux, lower observed rejection, and thus lower the bulk concentration. These coupled phenomena tended to mitigate the increase in concentration polarization caused by the cake. Therefore, as predicted by the model and verified by experiment, the osmotic pressure does not increase monotonically as the cake grows, and in fact can decrease when the cake layer is thick and the flux decline is significant. In our experimental system, the pressure drop across the cake layer, which was proportional to the cake thickness, was significant under the conditions studied. The effects of cake-enhanced osmotic pressure analyzed here are lower than those observed in previous studies, possibly because the transport model employed explicitly accounts for the effect of flux decline due to cake growth on the membrane sieving coefficient, and possibly because we used a somewhat different methodology to estimate cake porosity.     

Isopiestic Measurement of the Osmotic Coefficients of Aqueous {xH 2 SO 4 + (1− x)Fe 2 (SO 4 ) 3 } Solutions at 298.15 and 323.15 K

This study measures the osmotic coefficients of {xH₂SO₄ + (1−x)Fe₂(SO₄)₃}(aq) solutions at 298.15 and 323.15 K that have ionic strengths as great as 19.3 mol,kg⁻¹, using the isopiestic method. Experiments utilized both aqueous NaCl and H₂SO₄ as reference solutions. Equilibrium values of the osmotic coefficient obtained using the two different reference solutions were in satisfactory internal agreement. The solutions follow generally the Zdanovskii empirical linear relationship and yield values of a _w for the Fe₂(SO₄)₃–H₂O binary system at 298.15 K that are in good agreement with recent work and are consistent with other M₂(SO₄)₃–H₂O binary systems.     

LiCl-Li2B4O7-H2O体系在298.15 K下热力学性质的等压研究

用等压法研究了298.15 K下LiCl-Li2B4O7-H2O体系在不同LiB4O7质量摩尔浓度时的等压平衡浓度,  水活度; 计算了LiCl和Li2B4O7混合盐溶液的渗透系数等热力学性质. 用298.15 K下的实验数据对Pitzer离子相互作用模型进行了参数化研究, 拟合求取了298.15 K下Pitzer离子相互作用参数, 用获得的参数计算了LiCl和Li2B4O7在LiCl-Li2B4O7-H2O体系中的活度系数. Pitzer模型计算的渗透系数值与实验结果一致.     

A combined osmotic pressure and cake filtration model for crossflow nanofiltration of natural organic matter

A combined osmotic pressure and cake filtration model for crossflow nanofiltration of natural organic matter (NOM) was developed and successfully used to determine model parameters (i.e. permeability reduction factor (η) and specific cake resistance (α_cake)) for salt concentrations, NOM concentrations, and ionic strength of salt species (Na⁺ and Ca⁺⁺). In the absence of NOM, with increasing salt concentration from 0.004 to 0.1 M, permeability reduction factor (η)) decreased from 0.99 to 0.72 and 0.94 to 0.44 for monovalent cation (Na⁺) and divalent cation (Ca⁺⁺), respectively. This reduced membrane permeability was due to salt concentrations and salt species. In the presence of NOM, specific cake resistance tended to increase with increasing NOM concentration and ionic strength in the range of 0.85 × 10¹⁵–3.66 × 10¹⁵ m kg⁻¹. Solutions containing divalent cation exhibited higher normalized flux decline (J_v/J_vo = 0.685–0.632) and specific cake resistance (α_cake = 2.89 × 10¹⁵–6.24 × 10¹⁵ m kg⁻¹) than those containing monovalent cation, indicating a highly compacted NOM accumulation, thus increased permeate flow resistance during NF filtration experiments. After membrane cleaning, divalent cation exhibited lower water flux recovery than monovalent cation, suggesting higher non-recoverable (R_non-rec) resistance than monovalent cation.