Effect of the relative degree of foulant “hydrophobicity” on membrane fouling

Foulant hydrophobicity has been regarded as a key factor in membrane fouling. While hydrophobic/philic fractionation using DAX (or XAD) resin column has been extensively utilized in fouling studies, the critical retention factor (k’cr, the ratio of water volume to column volume) has been long neglected which can alter the definition and relative degree of “hydrophobicity” of the obtained fractions and affect fouling results. To this end, this...