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Reverse osmosis membranes typically suffer compaction during the initial stabilization stage due to the applied hydraulic pressure, altering the desalination performance. The elucidation of the underlying transformations during compaction is key for further development of new membranes and its deployment in real-world scenarios. Hydraulic compaction of amorphous carbon (a-C) based membranes under cross-flow operation for water purification and desalination has been observed experimentally, and analysed employing molecular dynamics simulations. The previous outstanding separation performance for carbon membranes, especially for the nitrogen-containing (a-C:N) type, has been studied during compaction using lab-scale cross-flow desalination membrane systems. Our results indicate that the high-water pressure induces an overall reduction in the interstitial spaces within the a-C structure. Remarkably, the compacted a-C:N membrane exhibits improved performance in salt rejection and water permeability, compared to the a-C based membrane. Our analysis shows that performance improvement can be related to the higher mechanical stability of the carbon structure due to the presence of nitrogen sites, which also promote water diffusion and permeability. These results show that a-C:N based membranes are a feasible alternative to conventional polymeric membranes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this work., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Spacers are widely used in membrane technologies to reduce fouling and concentration polarization. Fouling can start from the spacer surface and grow, thereby reducing flux, selectivity, and operation lifetime. Fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled bovine serum albumin was used for fouling studies and observed during cross-flow filtration operation for up to 144 h. Here, we mixed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polypropylene (PP) to make a spacer with better antifouling than plain PP spacers. The fouling process was observed by scanning electron microscopy and monitored in situ by fluorescence microscopy. Molecular dynamics simulations show that bovine serum albumin has a lower interaction energy with the nanocomposite CNTs/PP spacer than with the plain PP. The findings are relevant for the development of spacers to improve the operation lifetime of membranes in filtration technologies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.)

Individual hairs can be inherently curly; however, bleach treatment can cause damaged hairs to acquire a curl, a phenomenon we term acquired unintentional unruly hair. Because there have been no reports concerning acquired unintentional unruly hair, the influence of bleach treatment with alkaline peroxide that produce this phenomenon was investigated. First, it was validated that the radius of curvature in many curly hairs is reduced upon bleach treatment. Next, the influence of bleach treatment on the mechanical properties of inner components was studied by the force curve method using atomic force microscopy. This measurement revealed four types of macrofibrils-on the orthocortex- or the paracortex-like structure, and on the concave or the convex side-have different mechanical properties. Macrofibrils on the orthocortex-like structure on the convex side were especially influenced by alkaline peroxide treatment, and may be particularly important to acquired unintentional unruly hair.