Elucidating mechanisms of membrane fouling by using "visible" foulants

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K21980
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 22:Civil engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Matsushita Taku 北海道大学, 工学研究院, 准教授 (30283401)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 土木環境システム / 膜ファウリング / 同位体ラベリング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Observation with an isotope microscope confirmed that isotope-labeled extracellular macromolecular organics were produced by cultivating microorganisms (activated sludge) in a medium containing isotope-labeled substrates. Activated carbon adsorption experiments were carried out using the extracellular macromolecular organics, and the activated carbon particles after adsorption was observed with the isotope microscope. The observation revealed that the extracellular macromolecular organics were adsorbed in the mesopores near the outer surface of the activated carbon particles, indicating that the adsorption inhibition with the organics was caused by pore blocking. This methodology is expected to be applicable to analyzing the membrane fouling, showing that the possibility of leading to the elucidation of the mechanism.

Free Research Field

土木工学およびその関連分野

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で行った、同位体ラベリングした基質を加えた培地中で微生物（活性汚泥）を増殖させることにより、同位体ラベリングされた細胞外高分子有機物を創出し、それを同位体顕微鏡により観察しようとする試みは世界的にも全く前例がなく、極めて斬新かつ学術的にも意義が高いと評価できる。同位体ラベリングされた細胞外高分子有機物は、活性炭への吸着阻害メカニズムの解明のみならず、膜ファウリングメカニズムの解明にも適用が可能であると期待でき、大きな発展が望める。また、活性炭吸着阻害や膜ファウリングのメカニズム解明を通じ、これらの水処理技術の欠点の克服への道筋が開けるため、社会的にも大きな貢献が期待される。