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Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities

The almost ubiquitous, though undesired, deposition and accumulation of suspended/dissolved matter on solid surfaces, known as fouling, represents a crucial issue strongly affecting the efficiency and sustainability of micro-scale reactors. Fouling becomes even more detrimental for all the applicati...

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Autores principales: Cirillo, Andrea Iginio, Tomaiuolo, Giovanna, Guido, Stefano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8305447/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34357230
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12070820
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author Cirillo, Andrea Iginio
Tomaiuolo, Giovanna
Guido, Stefano
author_facet Cirillo, Andrea Iginio
Tomaiuolo, Giovanna
Guido, Stefano
author_sort Cirillo, Andrea Iginio
collection PubMed
description The almost ubiquitous, though undesired, deposition and accumulation of suspended/dissolved matter on solid surfaces, known as fouling, represents a crucial issue strongly affecting the efficiency and sustainability of micro-scale reactors. Fouling becomes even more detrimental for all the applications that require the use of membrane separation units. As a matter of fact, membrane technology is a key route towards process intensification, having the potential to replace conventional separation procedures, with significant energy savings and reduced environmental impact, in a broad range of applications, from water purification to food and pharmaceutical industries. Despite all the research efforts so far, fouling still represents an unsolved problem. The complex interplay of physical and chemical mechanisms governing its evolution is indeed yet to be fully unraveled and the role played by foulants’ properties or operating conditions is an area of active research where microfluidics can play a fundamental role. The aim of this review is to explore fouling through microfluidic systems, assessing the fundamental interactions involved and how microfluidics enables the comprehension of the mechanisms characterizing the process. The main mathematical models describing the fouling stages will also be reviewed and their limitations discussed. Finally, the principal dynamic investigation techniques in which microfluidics represents a key tool will be discussed, analyzing their employment to study fouling.
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spelling pubmed-83054472021-07-25 Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities Cirillo, Andrea Iginio Tomaiuolo, Giovanna Guido, Stefano Micromachines (Basel) Review The almost ubiquitous, though undesired, deposition and accumulation of suspended/dissolved matter on solid surfaces, known as fouling, represents a crucial issue strongly affecting the efficiency and sustainability of micro-scale reactors. Fouling becomes even more detrimental for all the applications that require the use of membrane separation units. As a matter of fact, membrane technology is a key route towards process intensification, having the potential to replace conventional separation procedures, with significant energy savings and reduced environmental impact, in a broad range of applications, from water purification to food and pharmaceutical industries. Despite all the research efforts so far, fouling still represents an unsolved problem. The complex interplay of physical and chemical mechanisms governing its evolution is indeed yet to be fully unraveled and the role played by foulants’ properties or operating conditions is an area of active research where microfluidics can play a fundamental role. The aim of this review is to explore fouling through microfluidic systems, assessing the fundamental interactions involved and how microfluidics enables the comprehension of the mechanisms characterizing the process. The main mathematical models describing the fouling stages will also be reviewed and their limitations discussed. Finally, the principal dynamic investigation techniques in which microfluidics represents a key tool will be discussed, analyzing their employment to study fouling. MDPI 2021-07-13 /pmc/articles/PMC8305447/ /pubmed/34357230 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12070820 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Cirillo, Andrea Iginio
Tomaiuolo, Giovanna
Guido, Stefano
Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title_full Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title_fullStr Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title_full_unstemmed Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title_short Membrane Fouling Phenomena in Microfluidic Systems: From Technical Challenges to Scientific Opportunities
title_sort membrane fouling phenomena in microfluidic systems: from technical challenges to scientific opportunities
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8305447/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34357230
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12070820
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