Industrial wastewater treatment from cattle slaughterhouses traditionally use dissolved air floatation (DAF) to remove the high organic content of fat, oil and grease (FOG) from wastewaters and recover them for producing other products, including tallow, gelatine and food additives. Dissolved air floatation presents several operating difficulties including the large size, high energy use and od...

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation was utilized to gradually modify the chemistry and structure of graphene oxide (GO) flakes, as confirmed by XPS and AFM. Ultrathin GO coatings/membranes, made of UV-irradiated flakes, showed tunable underwater oleophobicity. UV-treated, superoleophobic GO membranes exhibited excellent antifouling capability for oil/water separation.

A novel hydrophilic PAMPS-PAAm brush pattern is fabricated to selectively capture blood cells from whole blood. PAMPS brushes provide antifouling surfaces to resist protein and cell adhesion while PAAm brushes effectively entrap targeted proteins for site-specific and cell-type dependent capture of blood cells.

A novel class of antimicrobial cationic polycarbonate/PEG hydrogels are designed and synthesized by Michael addition chemistry. These hydrogels demonstrate strong broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against various clinically isolated multidrug-resistant microbes. Moreover, they exhibit nonfouling properties and prevent the substrate from microbial adhesion. These antimicrobial and antifoul...

We report here the high-quality draft genome sequence of Sphingomonas sp. strain Sph1(2015), isolated from a fouled reverse osmosis membrane used for the production of high-quality drinking water. The draft sequence provides insights into the modus operandi of this strain to form biofilms on membrane surfaces. This knowledge offers tools to develop novel antifouling strategies.

Coating surfaces with thin or thick films of zwitterionic material is an effective way to reduce or eliminate nonspecific adsorption to the solid/liquid interface. This review tracks the various approaches to zwitteration, such as monolayer assemblies and polymeric brush coatings, on micro- to macroscopic surfaces. A critical summary of the mechanisms responsible for antifouling shows how zwitt...

Bioinspired hierarchical structures on the surface of vertical light-emitting diodes (VLEDs) are demonstrated by combining a self-assembled dip-coating process and nanopatterning transfer method using thermal release tape. This versatile surface structure can efficiently reduce the total internal reflection and add functions, such as superhydrophobicity and high oleophobicity, to achieve an ant...

The qualitative and quantitative aspects of marine biological fouling and environmental factors influencing its character are discussed. The authors examine present "state of the art" antifouling techniques and the theoretical chemical and biological tenets upon which they are based. Effectiveness of presently used systems is compared and future needs for fouling prevention, projecting present ...

Marine biofouling, growth on submerged surfaces, is a problem for the commercial shipping industry but also for recreational boat owners. It leads to increased fuel consumption, loss of maneuverability and is a source of invasive species. The common solution to avoid biofouling is to use antifouling paints containing biocides which hinder the fouling organisms from growing on the ship hull. Med...