No Cover Image

E-Thesis 142 views 92 downloads

Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon / CHIALUKA IKOKWU

Swansea University Author: CHIALUKA IKOKWU

  • 2025_Ikokwu_C.final.70853.pdf

    PDF | E-Thesis – open access

    Copyright: The author, Chialuka Ikokwu, 2025

    Download (3.89MB)

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUThesis.70853

Abstract

Membrane processes for seawater desalination offer solutions to global water challenges, but factors such as high energy consumption and membrane fouling limit their capacity to provide fresh water worldwide.This work investigated the use of nanofiltration to desalinate seawater, with specific refer...

Full description

Published: Swansea 2025
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Master of Philosophy
Degree name: M.Phil
Supervisor: Guy, O.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70853
first_indexed 2025-11-06T15:25:03Z
last_indexed 2025-11-07T07:35:32Z
id cronfa70853
recordtype RisThesis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-11-06T15:30:23.2492771</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>70853</id><entry>2025-11-06</entry><title>Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>a19a83a38d93bf01abcd24205d8a955e</sid><firstname>CHIALUKA</firstname><surname>IKOKWU</surname><name>CHIALUKA IKOKWU</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-11-06</date><abstract>Membrane processes for seawater desalination offer solutions to global water challenges, but factors such as high energy consumption and membrane fouling limit their capacity to provide fresh water worldwide.This work investigated the use of nanofiltration to desalinate seawater, with specific reference to the removal of monovalent and divalent ions. Nanofiltration was found capable of removing 85% of calcium and 93% of magnesium from seawater. However, one limitation of the process is its inability to effectively remove monovalent ions such as Na.Electrodialysis as a means of seawater desalination was also investigated in this study. It achieved over 90% ion exchange in seawater within 75 minutes of operation. However, it has high energy requirements and is unable to remove organics from seawater.Surface modification of the NF membrane with oxygen plasma was found to improve hydrophilicity and flux while trading off performance in rejection. Ammonia plasma treatment for 50 seconds showed hydrophobic recovery after some time.Metal-assisted etching was used to create pores in a silicon wafer. Filtration results showed that water was able to pass through these pores, presenting a new approach to water desalination.</abstract><type>E-Thesis</type><journal/><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication>Swansea</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords>desalination, nanofiltration, silicon, electrodialysis, plasma surface modification, porous silicon membranes, ion rejection, membrane fouling</keywords><publishedDay>26</publishedDay><publishedMonth>8</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-08-26</publishedDate><doi>10.23889/SUThesis.70853</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><supervisor>Guy, O.</supervisor><degreelevel>Master of Philosophy</degreelevel><degreename>M.Phil</degreename><apcterm/><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-11-06T15:30:23.2492771</lastEdited><Created>2025-11-06T15:21:36.4024502</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering</level></path><authors><author><firstname>CHIALUKA</firstname><surname>IKOKWU</surname><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>70853__35575__47415045030148fa89fe27ee87236466.pdf</filename><originalFilename>2025_Ikokwu_C.final.70853.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-11-06T15:24:38.0587570</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>4083898</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>E-Thesis &#x2013; open access</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>Copyright: The author, Chialuka Ikokwu, 2025</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-11-06T15:30:23.2492771 v2 70853 2025-11-06 Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon a19a83a38d93bf01abcd24205d8a955e CHIALUKA IKOKWU CHIALUKA IKOKWU true false 2025-11-06 Membrane processes for seawater desalination offer solutions to global water challenges, but factors such as high energy consumption and membrane fouling limit their capacity to provide fresh water worldwide.This work investigated the use of nanofiltration to desalinate seawater, with specific reference to the removal of monovalent and divalent ions. Nanofiltration was found capable of removing 85% of calcium and 93% of magnesium from seawater. However, one limitation of the process is its inability to effectively remove monovalent ions such as Na.Electrodialysis as a means of seawater desalination was also investigated in this study. It achieved over 90% ion exchange in seawater within 75 minutes of operation. However, it has high energy requirements and is unable to remove organics from seawater.Surface modification of the NF membrane with oxygen plasma was found to improve hydrophilicity and flux while trading off performance in rejection. Ammonia plasma treatment for 50 seconds showed hydrophobic recovery after some time.Metal-assisted etching was used to create pores in a silicon wafer. Filtration results showed that water was able to pass through these pores, presenting a new approach to water desalination. E-Thesis Swansea desalination, nanofiltration, silicon, electrodialysis, plasma surface modification, porous silicon membranes, ion rejection, membrane fouling 26 8 2025 2025-08-26 10.23889/SUThesis.70853 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Guy, O. Master of Philosophy M.Phil 2025-11-06T15:30:23.2492771 2025-11-06T15:21:36.4024502 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering CHIALUKA IKOKWU 1 70853__35575__47415045030148fa89fe27ee87236466.pdf 2025_Ikokwu_C.final.70853.pdf 2025-11-06T15:24:38.0587570 Output 4083898 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The author, Chialuka Ikokwu, 2025 true eng
title Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
spellingShingle Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
CHIALUKA IKOKWU
title_short Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
title_full Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
title_fullStr Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
title_full_unstemmed Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
title_sort Investigating Water Treatment Procedures with a Focus on Novel Porous Silicon
author_id_str_mv a19a83a38d93bf01abcd24205d8a955e
author_id_fullname_str_mv a19a83a38d93bf01abcd24205d8a955e_***_CHIALUKA IKOKWU
author CHIALUKA IKOKWU
author2 CHIALUKA IKOKWU
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUThesis.70853
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Membrane processes for seawater desalination offer solutions to global water challenges, but factors such as high energy consumption and membrane fouling limit their capacity to provide fresh water worldwide.This work investigated the use of nanofiltration to desalinate seawater, with specific reference to the removal of monovalent and divalent ions. Nanofiltration was found capable of removing 85% of calcium and 93% of magnesium from seawater. However, one limitation of the process is its inability to effectively remove monovalent ions such as Na.Electrodialysis as a means of seawater desalination was also investigated in this study. It achieved over 90% ion exchange in seawater within 75 minutes of operation. However, it has high energy requirements and is unable to remove organics from seawater.Surface modification of the NF membrane with oxygen plasma was found to improve hydrophilicity and flux while trading off performance in rejection. Ammonia plasma treatment for 50 seconds showed hydrophobic recovery after some time.Metal-assisted etching was used to create pores in a silicon wafer. Filtration results showed that water was able to pass through these pores, presenting a new approach to water desalination.
published_date 2025-08-26T05:31:52Z
_version_ 1851098097061462016
score 11.089407

Similar Items