Filters

20212

More filters

20232
Reset filters

Settings

Author: Linkhorst, John × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.series: Scientific reports 11 (2021) ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Particle movements provoke avalanche-like compaction in soft colloid filter cakes
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Lüken, Arne; Stüwe, Lucas; Lohaus, Johannes; Linkhorst, John; Wessling, Matthias
    During soft matter filtration, colloids accumulate in a compressible porous cake layer on top of the membrane surface. The void size between the colloids predominantly defines the cake-specific permeation resistance and the corresponding filtration efficiency. While higher fluxes are beneficial for the process efficiency, they compress the cake and increase permeation resistance. However, it is not fully understood how soft particles behave during cake formation and how their compression influences the overall cake properties. This study visualizes the formation and compression process of soft filter cakes in microfluidic model systems. During cake formation, we analyze single-particle movements inside the filter cake voids and how they interact with the whole filter cake morphology. During cake compression, we visualize reversible and irreversible compression and distinguish the two phenomena. Finally, we confirm the compression phenomena by modeling the soft particle filter cake using a CFD-DEM approach. The results underline the importance of considering the compression history when describing the filter cake morphology and its related properties. Thus, this study links single colloid movements and filter cake compression to the overall cake behavior and narrows the gap between single colloid events and the filtration process.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Templating the morphology of soft microgel assemblies using a nanolithographic 3D-printed membrane
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Linkhorst, John; Lölsberg, Jonas; Thill, Sebastian; Lohaus, Johannes; Lüken, Arne; Naegele, Gerhard; Wessling, Matthias
    Filter cake formation is the predominant phenomenon limiting the filtration performance of membrane separation processes. However, the filter cake’s behavior at the particle scale, which determines its overall cake behavior, has only recently come into the focus of scientists, leaving open questions about its formation and filtration behavior. The present study contributes to the fundamental understanding of soft filter cakes by analyzing the influence of the porous membrane’s morphology on crystal formation and the compaction behavior of soft filter cakes under filtration conditions. Microfluidic chips with nanolithographic imprinted filter templates were used to trigger the formation of crystalline colloidal filter cakes formed by soft microgels. The soft filter cakes were observed via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) under dead-end filtration conditions. Colloidal crystal formation in the cake, as well as their compaction behavior, were analyzed by optical visualization and pressure data. For the first time, we show that exposing the soft cake to a crystalline filter template promotes the formation of colloidal crystallites and that soft cakes experience gradient compression during filtration.