Unveiling the Impacts of Sodium Hypochlorite on the Characteristics and Fouling Behaviors of Different Commercial Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hollow Fiber Membranes

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) is a commonly used cleaning agent for recovering membrane performance in membrane technologies. A thorough understanding of the impacts of NaOCl exposure on membrane properties and fouling behavior is important for optimizing chemical cleaning process and extending membrane lifespan. In this study, three commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes (SMM-1010, MEMCOR(®) CS II and ZeeWeed 500) were used to systematically explore the effects of NaOCl dose and solution pH (8 and 10) on membrane properties. The results showed that membrane pores increased with exposure time prolonging, and more pores were observed at pH 8 aging condition. The amide group in the Fourier transformation infrared spectra was disappeared, while the carboxylic acid and succinimide groups were formed at pH 10 and pH 8 conditions, respectively. The hydrophilicity and pure water permeability (PWP) of SMM-1010 and MEMCOR(®) CS II membranes had insignificant changes during NaOCl aging process, whereas the hydrophilicity of ZeeWeed 500 membrane slightly decreased and its PWP increased by 1.4-fold. The antifouling properties of NaOCl-aged SMM-1010 and MEMCOR(®) CS II membranes were slightly improved, whereas the NaOCl-aged ZeeWeed 500 membrane showed severer flux decline with humic acid filtration. Our findings could provide guidance for practical chemical cleaning process optimization.