The aim of the present work is to enhance the antifouling properties of polypropylene (PP) membrane based on hydrophilicity improvement. Different contents of neat and modified nanodiamond (0. 25, 0. 50, 0. 75 and 1. 00 wt. %) were embedded into PP membranes. Nanodiamond nanoparticles were carboxylated by heat treatment method and the presence of carboxyl functional groups on the surface of nanoparticles was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Membranes were then characterized by FESEM, contact angle and tensile strength tests. At the same content of nanoparticles, hydrophilicity, pure water flux and tensile strength of PP/ND-COOH membranes were more than those of PP/ND membranes. Membranes embedded with 0. 75 wt. % of neat and modified nanoparticles were used in a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) system along with neat PP membrane. The results showed that critical flux values for neat PP, PP/ND and PP/ND-COOH membranes were 7, 18 and 22 L/(m2. h), respectively. Analysis of fouling mechanisms revealed that antifouling properties of 0. 75 wt. % PP/ND-COOH membrane were higher than those of other two ones so that irreversible fouling ratio decreased from 88. 9% for neat PP to 47. 8% for PP/ND-COOH membrane.

Antifouling properties of mixed matrix polysulfone (PSF) and modified Halloysite NanoTube (mHNT) nanoparticles ultrafiltration membrane were studied. The membranes were fabricated with different concentrations of mHNT and PSF by phase separation method. Pure water flux, protein removal, and fouling parameters for analysis of membrane performance were studied. The HNTs nanoparticles tructure was modified by TiO2 and its structure was determined by TEM and XRD. The membrane structure was studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The water flux of the nanocomposite membrane was improved significantly From 140 to above 350 L / m2. h at 5bar pressure with the improved hydrophilic property. The hydrophilic properties were confirmed by measuring the contact angle and the porosity. This improvement is due to functional groups in the hydrophilic property that can be attributed mHNT and TiO2 nanoparticles. The sedimentation of the membrane, resistance was investigated by the Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The results of membranes with 0. 5 and 1% loading of mHNT exhibited the best anti-fouling properties which is leading to 100% flux recovery. The results also show that the membranes with 0. 5-1 wt% mHNT loading is the highest porosity and water flux.

The copper-based biocide is mostly used as primary additive of Antifouling (AF) paint in Indonesia especially on vessels. The evaluation for the efficacy of AF paint was conducted where anti corrosion (AC) paint was also as a reference. The panels with both paints were exposed to various sea depths of up to 3 meters until 12 months of exposures. The measurement of parameters of seawater consisting of water conductivity, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and salinity were carried out. There was no or less attached marine biofouling on AF-painted panels but not on AC-painted panels up to 12-months of field exposure in various sea depths. There was no difference between the properties of AF paints before and after exposure to various sea depths. The inhibitive performance of AF paint depends on the existence of AF layer containing Cu2O biocide where the thickness of that layer decreases in increase of time exposure.

In the present study the main aim was to fabricate the nanofiber polymeric membrane with improved surface properties for application as an antifouling microfiltration membrane in wastewater treatment. The improved nanofiber microfiltration membranes were electrospun from the polyacrylonitrile solutions containing 0. 5 to 5 w/w% boehmite nanoparticles. Embedding the hydrophilic boehmite nanoparticles increased the surface hydrophilicity and antifouling properties of the membrane. Among the prepared nanofiber microfiltration membranes, the 3 w/w% boehmites embedded polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane (MD) was selected as the membrane with optimum antifouling properties and permeate flux. Concerning the results obtained, our prepared antifouling nanofiber membrane can be efficiently used for wastewater treatment applications.