Generation of nanobubbles by ceramic membrane filters: The dependence of bubble size and zeta potential on surface coating, pore size and injected gas pressure

Ahmed Khaled Abdella Ahmed, Cuizhen Sun, Likun Hua, Zhibin Zhang, Yanhao Zhang, Wen Zhang, Taha Marhaba

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

111 Scopus citations

Abstract

Generation of gaseous nanobubbles (NBs) by simple, efficient, and scalable methods is critical for industrialization and applications of nanobubbles. Traditional generation methods mainly rely on hydrodynamic, acoustic, particle, and optical cavitation. These generation processes render issues such as high energy consumption, non-flexibility, and complexity. This research investigated the use of tubular ceramic nanofiltration membranes to generate NBs in water with air, nitrogen and oxygen gases. This system injects pressurized gases through a tubular ceramic membrane with nanopores to create NBs. The effects of membrane pores size, surface energy, and the injected gas pressures on the bubble size and zeta potential were examined. The results show that the gas injection pressure had considerable effects on the bubble size, zeta potential, pH, and dissolved oxygen of the produced NBs. For example, increasing the injection air pressure from 69 kPa to 414 kPa, the air bubble size was reduced from 600 to 340 nm respectively. Membrane pores size and surface energy also had significant effects on sizes and zeta potentials of NBs. The results presented here aim to fill out the gaps of fundamental knowledge about NBs and development of efficient generation methods.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)327-335
Number of pages9
JournalChemosphere
Volume203
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • General Chemistry
  • Pollution
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Keywords

  • Bubble size
  • Microbubbles
  • Nanobubbles
  • Surface energy
  • Zeta potential

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