Non-steady diffusion and adsorption of organic micropollutants in ion-exchange membranes: effect of the membrane thickness
Abstract
There is no efficient wastewater treatment solution for removing organic micropollutants (OMPs), which, therefore, are continuously introduced to the Earth's surface waters. This creates a severe risk to aquatic ecosystems and human health. In emerging water treatment processes based on ion-exchange membranes (IEM), transport of OMPs through membranes remains unknown. We performed a comprehensive investigation of the OMP transport through a single IEM under non-steady-state conditions. For the first time, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to study differences in the free volume element radius between anion- and cation-exchange membranes, and between their thicknesses. The dynamic diffusion-adsorption model was used to calculate the adsorption and diffusion coefficients of OMPs. Remarkably, diffusion coefficients increased with the membrane thickness, where its surface resistance was more evident in thinner membranes. Presented results will contribute to the improved design of next-generation IEMs with higher selectivity toward multiple types of organic compounds.
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BibTeX
@article{roman2026nonsteady,
title = {{Non-steady diffusion and adsorption of organic micropollutants in ion-exchange membranes: effect of the membrane thickness}},
author = {Malgorzata Roman and Pawel Roman and Rhea Verbeke and Leonardo Gutierrez and Marjolein Vanoppen and Marcel Dickmann and Werner Egger and Ivo F. J. Vankelecom and Jan Post and Emile Cornelissen and Karel Keesman and Arne Verliefde},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2021.102095},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05771109v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Non-steady diffusion and adsorption of organic micropollutants in ion-exchange membranes: effect of the membrane thickness
AU - Malgorzata Roman
AU - Pawel Roman
AU - Rhea Verbeke
AU - Leonardo Gutierrez
AU - Marjolein Vanoppen
AU - Marcel Dickmann
AU - Werner Egger
AU - Ivo F. J. Vankelecom
AU - Jan Post
AU - Emile Cornelissen
AU - Karel Keesman
AU - Arne Verliefde
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102095
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05771109v1
AB - There is no efficient wastewater treatment solution for removing organic micropollutants (OMPs), which, therefore, are continuously introduced to the Earth's surface waters. This creates a severe risk to aquatic ecosystems and human health. In emerging water treatment processes based on ion-exchange membranes (IEM), transport of OMPs through membranes remains unknown. We performed a comprehensive investigation of the OMP transport through a single IEM under non-steady-state conditions. For the first time, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to study differences in the free volume element radius between anion- and cation-exchange membranes, and between their thicknesses. The dynamic diffusion-adsorption model was used to calculate the adsorption and diffusion coefficients of OMPs. Remarkably, diffusion coefficients increased with the membrane thickness, where its surface resistance was more evident in thinner membranes. Presented results will contribute to the improved design of next-generation IEMs with higher selectivity toward multiple types of organic compounds.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -