IIPE Develops Eco-Friendly Water Treatment Solution

May 16, 2024

The Indian Institute of Petroleum & Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatnam, and other national research institutions have come up with a new, environmentally friendly way to treat water. They call it the “Surface Modification Technique of Membrane.” This innovative method helps improve the cleaning of muddy river water, which is a common problem in many places.

Collaborative Efforts and Research Publications

Assam Science and Technology University, Gauhati University, Pragjyotish College, and the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology were some of the prestigious schools that contributed to the study. It was published in the prestigious magazine “Nature Scientific Reports” that they came up with the main idea of using plasma process gas to improve the flow of permeate through cellulose nitrate membranes for treating mud water.

Funding and Research Goals

The research initiative received financial backing through an Institute Research Grant provided by IIPE. These group studies’ main goal was to find solutions to common problems in water purification, mainly how long filter membranes last and how often they need to be replaced in diverse industrial processes.

Technology Description and its Benefits

The new method for changing the surface of things makes membranes work better and last longer, which lowers their running costs by a large amount. For this method, non-toxic gases are used to treat the surface instead of the usual harsh chemicals. Dipankar Pal, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at IIPE, said that this technology could be used in many fields where clean water is important, such as pharmaceuticals, food preparation, and textiles. It also helps protect and watch the environment by reducing the damage that pollutants do to water bodies.

More About Surface Modification Technique of Membrane

Surface Modification: Changing the surface of membranes is necessary to make them work better in filtration and separation processes.
Graft polymerization: This method adds certain functions to the surface of the membrane, making it more selective and better at what it does.
Plasma Treatment: This changes the surface qualities of membranes to make them more hydrophilic and permeable.
Assembly Layer-by-Layer: This method lets you precisely control the membranes’ thickness and surface qualities, which is very important for nanofiltration uses.
Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD): it coats membrane surfaces with protected and useful layers that make them last longer and work better.
UV Irradiation: It changes the chemicals on the surface of membranes, which makes them work better in many situations.
Membrane annealing: It helps get rid of flaws and makes membranes last longer, so they can be used for a longer time.
ALD (atomic layer deposition) : It ensures uniform coats at the nanoscale level, which is very important for processes like osmosis.
Covalent Bonding: Getting specifically separated molecules to connect with surfaces in the right way by covalently bonding to membranes is very important.