Durable superhydrophobic interfaces sustain long-term ammonia recovery from real anaerobic digestion effluent
- 1Department of Global Smart City, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), 2066, Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, Republic of Korea
- 2Corresponding author.
Abstract
Ammonia recovery from wastewater supports sustainable nitrogen circularity and reduces reliance on energy-intensive Haber-Bosch synthesis. Anaerobic digestion effluent represents a concentrated nitrogen resource, yet membrane contactors for selective NH 3 recovery suffer from coupled wetting and fouling in complex real matrices, limiting long-term performance. Conventional hydrophobic modifications improve initial resistance but lack quantitative mechanistic understanding of how interface design governs pore-scale dynamics and sustained transport under realistic conditions. Here we show that systematic fluorosilane engineering of commercial PVDF membranes produces superhydrophobic contactors that, when guided by operando optical coherence tomography, establish a quantitative framework linking interfacial fluorination density to the stabilization of Cassie-Baxter-like states, suppression of pore wetting and fouling, and durable high-efficiency NH 3 recovery from real anaerobic digestion effluent. The optimal PVDF@PFDTMS membrane achieves 98.4% recovery efficiency and 44.8 g m −2 d −1 flux while maintaining near-invariant porosity and thickness over 20 h and across multiple physical cleaning cycles. These results demonstrate that operando structural diagnostics can transform empirical surface modification into a rational, mechanism-informed design strategy for resilient membrane contactors. This framework advances durable, energy-efficient nutrient recovery technologies for high-strength waste streams and supports scalable nitrogen circularity.
Related
- Integrated Intensification and Nutrient Recovery Strategies in Two-Stage Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste: State of the Art, Engineering Challenges of Scale-Up, and Perspectives
- Assessment of fate of contaminants of emerging concern in forward osmosis-reverse osmosis-anaerobic digestion hybrid: A literature-based approach
- Reinforcement-Learning-Enabled Supervisory Control of a Full-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Facility Using a Calibrated Digital Twin.
- Potential Reuse of Treated Domestic Wastewater Effluent from a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for Landscape Watering at PT X
- Coupling ceramic nanofiltration membranes with catalytic ozonation for fouling control during treatment of secondary urban wastewater effluent
BibTeX
@article{im2026durable,
title = {{Durable superhydrophobic interfaces sustain long-term ammonia recovery from real anaerobic digestion effluent}},
author = {Hongrae Im and Am Jang},
journal = {Environmental Science and Ecotechnology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.ese.2026.100748},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2026.100748},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Durable superhydrophobic interfaces sustain long-term ammonia recovery from real anaerobic digestion effluent
AU - Hongrae Im
AU - Am Jang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
DO - 10.1016/j.ese.2026.100748
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2026.100748
AB - Ammonia recovery from wastewater supports sustainable nitrogen circularity and reduces reliance on energy-intensive Haber-Bosch synthesis. Anaerobic digestion effluent represents a concentrated nitrogen resource, yet membrane contactors for selective NH 3 recovery suffer from coupled wetting and fouling in complex real matrices, limiting long-term performance. Conventional hydrophobic modifications improve initial resistance but lack quantitative mechanistic understanding of how interface design governs pore-scale dynamics and sustained transport under realistic conditions. Here we show that systematic fluorosilane engineering of commercial PVDF membranes produces superhydrophobic contactors that, when guided by operando optical coherence tomography, establish a quantitative framework linking interfacial fluorination density to the stabilization of Cassie-Baxter-like states, suppression of pore wetting and fouling, and durable high-efficiency NH 3 recovery from real anaerobic digestion effluent. The optimal PVDF@PFDTMS membrane achieves 98.4% recovery efficiency and 44.8 g m −2 d −1 flux while maintaining near-invariant porosity and thickness over 20 h and across multiple physical cleaning cycles. These results demonstrate that operando structural diagnostics can transform empirical surface modification into a rational, mechanism-informed design strategy for resilient membrane contactors. This framework advances durable, energy-efficient nutrient recovery technologies for high-strength waste streams and supports scalable nitrogen circularity.
SN - 2666-4984
ER -