Advances in the Understanding of the Transfer of Saccharides through NF Membranes in the Presence of Electrolytes by Coupling Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamic Methods

Abstract

Different studies have shown that the presence of electrolytes modifies the nanofiltration performances and that the variation of the neutral solute transfer is mainly governed by the modification of the solute properties. The objective of this work is to strengthen the understanding of the impact of the ion composition and to progress in the long-term objective for the prediction of the nanofiltration performances. The methodology is based on the comparison of the hydration properties obtained by experimental and theoretical approaches with the mass transfer of saccharides. The key role of the saccharide hydration number to understand the impact of the ionic composition on the saccharide transfer is clearly demonstrated. Moreover, it is established that the number of saccharide/cation interactions, which increases with the cation coordination number, is a key parameter to understand the mechanisms governing the impact of the nature of the cation on the saccharide mass transfer modification. Finally, correlations are obtained between the saccharide hydration number decrease and the variation of the saccharide radius calculated using a hydrodynamic model for different ionic compositions and operating modes (diffusion and filtration). From these results, it could be possible to evaluate the saccharide transfer for a given saccharide/electrolyte system transfer.