Cacao Pod Husk Extract Phenolic Nanopowder-Impregnated Cellulose Acetate Matrix for Biofouling Control in Membranes

The ultrafiltration membrane process is widely used for fruit juice clarification, yet the occurring of fouling promotes a decline in process efficiency. To reduce the fouling potential in the membrane application in food processing, the use of natural phenolic compounds extracted from cocoa pod husk is investigated. The cocoa pod husk extract (CPHE) was prepared in phenolic nanoparticles form and added into the polymer solution at varying concentrations of 0.5 wt%, 0.75 wt%, and 1.0 wt%, respectively. The composite membrane was made of a cellulose acetate polymer using DMF (dimethylformamide) and DMAc (dimethylacetamide) solvents. The highest permeability of 2.34 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 was achieved by 1.0 wt% CPHE/CA prepared with the DMAc solvent. CPHE was found to reduce the amount of Escherichia coli attached to the membranes by 90.5% and 70.8% for membranes prepared with DMF and DMAc, respectively. It is concluded that CPHE can be used to control biofouling in the membrane for food applications.

Synthetic and Biological Surfactants Used to Mitigate Biofouling on Industrial Facilities Surfaces

The adhesion of organisms to surfaces is an event that occurs in natural and artificial systems and is commonly known as bio-encrustation. The elimination of biofouling through less aggressive and ecological methods has aroused the interest of researchers and industries worldwide. Among the products with the greatest potential for altering surfaces, surfactants act at cell-cell and cell-surface interfaces, reducing surface hydrophobicity, the adherence of microorganisms, and the formation of biofilms. Biological surfactants have stood out for their versatility and proven effectiveness in recent years as valuable tools, especially due to their biodegradable characteristics when compared to synthetic surfactants. Thus, they can transform and modernize biotechnology by providing more robust antifouling technologies. This review discusses the possible roles and applications of synthetic and biological surfactants from different sources, such as biofouling reducing agents, addressing the potential alteration of surfaces, reducing surface tension, biological activities (antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and anti-adherence), biodegradability, and anticorrosion activity. Market trends and the potential uses of these multifunctional biomolecules in biofouling control are also cited, along with examples from the literature using biosurfactants as antifouling agents.

Biological-based control strategies for MBR membrane biofouling: a review

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has been paid extensive attentions for wastewater treatment because of its advantages of high effluent quality and minimized occupation space and sludge production. However, the membrane fouling is always an inevitable problem which causes high operation and maintenance costs and prevents the wide use of MBR technology. The membrane biofouling is the most complicated and the relatively slow progress among all types of fouling. In recent years, many membrane biofouling control methods have been developed. Different from the physical or chemical methods, the biological-based strategies are not only more effective for membrane biofouling control, but also milder and more environment-friendly and are therefore, have been increasingly employed. This paper mainly focused on the mechanism, unique advantages and development of biological-based control strategies for MBR membrane biofouling such as quorum quenching, uncoupling, flocculants and so on. The paper summarized the up-to-date development of membrane biofouling control strategies, emphasized the advantages and promising potential of biological-based ones, and point out the future studies directions.