Ceramic Biomimetic Coatings to Boost PVDF Membrane Performance in Treating Low Surface Tension Wastewater Streams

This study addresses the pore wetting risk associated with current Membrane Distillation technologies (MD) in the presence of volatile organic compounds in feed aqueous solutions [1]. By doing so, it presents a sustainable solution inspired by biomimicry, which contributes to the ongoing endeavors aimed at ensuring access to clean water while mitigating the environmental impact of industrial processes [2]. A comparison of ceramic superhydrophobic biomimetic coatings, renowned for their water-repellent properties in harsh environments [3][4][5], is here presented as potential solutions to alleviate fouling and scaling while enhancing efficient water vapor transport during the membrane distillation process with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane contactors. This work has been done within the UE project MEASURED (www.measured-project.eu) coordinated by the University of Eindhoven (TU/e).