Changes in the properties of a solution using pulsed electric field treatment as pretreatment of membrane filtration

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the changes in the physicochemical properties of humic acid, surfactants, and water after pulsed electric field treatment of the surrounding membrane. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the surfactants and the physicochemical properties of the water were determined by measuring conductivity, using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). After the electric field processing, structural changes in the C-N complex and the C=O were found through FT-IR analysis. The increase in the frequency was from 2.3 to 9.9Hz in the NMR analysis. The CMC of the cation and anion surfactants decreased to 1.3 and 9.2%, respectively, while the value of the UV-vis increased. The UV-vis of the humic acid decreased in the pulsed electric field. Therefore, the application of the pulsed electric field system was directly shown to have influenced the physicochemical properties of the water and the organic compounds.