Membrane Technology for Clean Water and Energy

Principal Investigator: Professor Chuyang TANG (Chair Professor of Environmental Engineering from Department of Civil Engineering)

This project is showcased in the third exhibition – Technology for Future.

About the scholar

Professor Chuyang TANG

Research interests:
• Membrane technology
• Desalination
• Water and wastewater treatment
• Clean energy production
• Nano-/bio-technology enhanced separation

Email: tangc@hku.hk
Website: https://www.membest.hku.hk/

Project information

Clean water and clean energy are vital for human activity and socio-economic development. Hong Kong suffers from severe water scarcity, and membrane technology is expected to play a critical role to supplement the existing water supply. However, the current membranes for water production and water reuse, like reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) are constrained by their relatively low water permeance (which affects energy consumption) and low selectivity (which affects product quality). Therefore, the membrane itself as the “chip” of the membrane process should be greatly emphasized and fine tailored for more effective clean water supply and clean energy generation.

Membrane sheet and prototype of the modules
Project video
Project images
Schematic diagram of the TFC membrane structure
Nanobubble theory-tailored RO membranes with high performances. For instance, surfactant-induced nanobubbles/ nanovoids can enhance the water permeance up to 180% and improve to 3-fold anti-fouling properties.
Interlater-based high permeability, selectivity, and anti-fouling NF membranes for diverse applications. NF membrane strategically designed by Professor Tang's team can easily achieve a water permeability over 50LMH/bar, and the membrane coupon size can be scaled up to 0.56 m².
Key parameters of ultrahigh NF membranes
Other projects
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