Wetting-Governed Heterogeneous Nucleation on Corrugated Reverse Osmosis Membranes: f (θ) Outperforms Ra as a Predictor of Scaling
Abstract
Roughness plays an important role in scaling on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigate the scaling behavior of three polyamide composite RO membranes (RO-L, RO-M, and RO-H) with systematically varied surface roughness. By tracking scaling evolution and introducing a wetting factor, f (θ), we elucidate how the surface microstructure regulates heterogeneous nucleation. Membranes with lower f (θ) values exhibited a delayed scaling onset (flux decline
Fields of Study & Subjects
Membrane Separation Technologies
Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies
Membrane Separation and Gas Transport
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2706–2713
- Publication date
- 29 January 2026
- Language
- EN