December 2018
Our paper Virus deposition onto polyelectrolyte-coated surfaces: A study with bacteriophage MS2 is accepted for publication in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.12.107

December 2018
Prof. Tarabara is a member of the MSU team visiting Nanjing Agricultural University with Dr. Wei Liao (BAE), Dr. John Frost (Chemistry), Dr. Darrell Donahue (BAE), Dr. Christopher Saffron (BAE).

November/December 2018
Supported by the NSF PIRE project, Charifa Hejase is visiting the Singapore Membrane Technology Center and Dr. Jia Wei Chew's group at Nanyang Technological University. For the first two weeks of her stay Charifa will be performing DOTM tests together with Maresa Kempin, a PhD student from the group of Dr. Anja Drews at HTW Berlin as a part of a Germany-Singapore-USA collaborative project on filterability of Pickering emulsions.

September 2018
Prof. Tarabara is an invited participant of the workshop "State-of-the-art techniques for characterizing membranes" in Montpellier, France.

Workshop participants and EM3E-4SW students:

Photo source: EM3E-4SW November 2018 newsletter

September 2018
Two Technical Notes were accepted for publication in the ASCE J. Environ. Eng.:
1) "Photocatalysis in membrane bioreactor effluent: Assessment of inhibition by dissolved organics". The lead author on the paper is Prof. Samuel Snow (now at LSU) while Caroline LaRoy (now at the University of Iowa) is a co-author.
2) "Human adenovirus 40 removal in a side-stream membrane bioreactor." The lead author on the paper is Alex Casabuena (now at Borrego Solar) with Drs. Hang Shi (now with CTI and Associates), Ziqiang Yin (now at Nanyang Technological University, in Dr. Jia Wei Chew's group), and Irene Xagoraraki as co-authors.

August 2018
Charifa Hejase passes her PhD preliminary exam (aka "comprehensive") and is now officially a PhD candidate. Congratulations, Charifa!

June 2018
New project "Line 5: Oil spill detection, remediation, and risk perceptions in winter conditions" is funded by the Michigan Applied Public Policy Research (MAPPR) program of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. This is a collaboration between our team and research groups of Grant Gunn (PI, Geography, MSU), Douglas Bessette, Robert Richardson and Michelle Rutty (all - Community Sustainability, MSU).

We are looking to build on our prior work supported by EPA to explore issues unique to oil spills in ice-covered waters and specifically address concerns related to Enbridge Line 5 pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac.

Spring 2018
Congratulations to Hien Dang and Seyma Kucuk - 2018 MSU graduates! Hien, Seyma: we are proud of you.

January 2018
Our paper Photo-crosslinked PVA/PEI electrospun nanofiber membranes: Preparation and preliminary evaluation in virus clearance tests is accepted for publication in Separation and Purification Technology.
DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2018.01.002
Our co-authors are MEM-TEK researchers Bihter Zeytuncu, Melike Urper and Ismail Koyuncu. The collaboration has been funded in part by the NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) project and in part by TUBITAK's postdoctoral research scholarship to Dr. Bihter Zeytuncu. The scholarship supported Bihter during her July'15 - July'16 visit to MSU.

November 2017
Our paper on adenovirus disinfection by catalytic UV is now published:
Photocatalytic inactivation of human adenovirus 40: Effect of dissolved organic matter and prefiltration. Separ. Purif. Technol. 193 (2018) 193-201. DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2017.11.012
Congratulations to all co-authors: Bin, Brian, Irene and Sam!

August 2017
Bidding farewell to Zakhar. From left to right: Hien, Ira, Zakhar, Vlad, Hang, Seyma

June 2017
Charifa, Hang, and Hien present their PhD work at the 2017 AEESP meeting in Ann Arbor:
- Hejase, C.; Tummons, E. N.; Chew, J. W.; Fane, A. G.; Tarabara, V. V. Deoiling saline emulsions by porous membranes: A direct visualization study.
- Shi, H.; Xagoraraki, I.; Parent, K. N.; Bruening, M. L.; Tarabara, V. V. Understanding virus adhesion to surfaces: Example of human adenovirus 40 recovery from tap and surface water for detection.
- Dang, H. T. T.; Tarabara, V. V. Deposition of viruses onto household paints and polyelectrolyte-coated surfaces.

February 2017
Hang Shi receives Student Best Paper Award for his presentation "Recovery of Adenovirus From Tap and Surface Water by Crossflow Ultrafiltration: Experimental Determination and XDLVO Predictions" at the 2017 AMTA/AWWA Membrane Technology Conference. This work was coauthored with our colleagues Dr. Irene Xagoraraki (Civil and Environmental Engineering, MSU), Dr. Kristin Parent (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MSU), and Dr. Merlin Bruening (Chemistry, MSU / Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Notre Dame).
Congratulations, Hang!
AMTA press release

2017 Student Best Paper presented to Hang Shi by Ben Movahed (source)

January 2017
Our group joins the International Partnership on Membrane Processes for Research and Educational Excellence (MEMPREX) recently funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The goal of the project is to "establish an international, interdisciplinary and innovative research and educational collaboration that leads to the establishment of a virtual membrane excellence network with its centre in Norway. The effort will link staff and graduate students of the participating universities from Canada, the U.S., Japan, China and Norway." The PI on the project is Prof. Harsha Ratnaweera from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

November 2016
Congratulations to Hang and Hien - both are awardees in the student research contest at the ESPP Research Symposium on Environmental Health. Hang's presentation "Recovery of Human Adenovirus 40 from Tap and Surface Water by Crossflow Ultrafiltration: Experimental Determination and XDLVO Predictions Based on Virion Characterization" received 1st place in the "Infectious diseases" category. Hien's poster "Kinetics of Bacteriophage MS2 Deposition onto Polyelectrolyte-coated Surfaces" earned 2 place in the poster competition.

August 2016
Sam Snow has accepted an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Louisiana State University. Congratulations, Sam, and all the best to you in your new position in academia. We wish you great success and are very happy to have had you as a friend and colleague at Michigan State. Go Tigers (and Spartans)!

June 2016
Caroline LaRoy and Dr. Sam Snow together with Kevin Cruz Villanueva (REU researcher, MSU Chemistry) traveled to France for a 10 day research visit as a part of collaboration with researchers from the European Institute of Membranes and the University of Montpellier: Caroline worked with Drs. Stephanie Roualdes and Andre Ayral on the design of photocatalytic membrane coatings. Sam worked with Drs. Marc Heran and Geoffroy Lesage on photocatalysis in MBR effluents.

April 2016
Our paper on photocatalytic membrane design is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science:
Starr, B. J.; Tarabara, V. V.; Herrera-Robledo, M.; Zhou, M.; Roualdès, S.; Ayral, A. Coating porous membranes with a photocatalyst: Comparison of LbL self-assembly and plasma-enhanced CVD techniques. J. Membr. Sci. 2016, 514, 340-349.
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2016.04.050
This is a collaboration with Drs. André Ayral and Stéphanie Roualdès from the European Institute of Membranes. A part of this work was accomplished during Brian Starr's visit to Montpellier and EIM. This collaboration is a part of the NSF PIRE project.

Schematic illustration of a cross-section of an asymmetric ceramic membrane with the permeate side coated by catalytic nanoparticles and exposed to UV light for flow-through photocatalysis.

Highlights
- LbL assembly and plasma-enhanced CVD are used to coat membranes with photocatalyst
- LbL produces sub-monolayer of photocatalyst nanoparticles
- Plasma-enhanced CVD gives dense uniform coating
- Model connects coating’s reactivity with the geometry of the reaction zone
- Model points to possible ways for improving each coating technique

April 2016
Bin Guo successfully defends her PhD dissertation "Virus removal and inactivation in a photocatalytic membrane reactor: Disinfection mechanisms and effect of water quality". Congratulations, Dr. Guo!

February 2016
Our paper on the design of reactive membranes for flow-through dehalogenation is published in Environmental Science: Nano
Crock, C. A.; Tarabara, V. V. Pd and Pd-Au nanocatalysts supported on exfoliated graphite for high throughput dehalogenation by. nanocomposite membranes. Environ. Sci.: Nano. 2016, 3, 453-461.

Conceptual illustration of a hierarchical nanocatalyst based on bimetallic (Pd-Au) nanoparticles as the catalyst and exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets as catalyst support. The Pd-Au nanoparticles have core-shell morphology with Au and Pd forming the core and the shell, respectively.

Nano impact statement:
To date, high throughput dechlorination by membrane reactors has not been practical because of the conflicting requirements of high permeate flux and sufficient time for reaction within the membrane. High reactivity catalysts are needed to negotiate the conflicting demands of reactivity and throughput. We report on the design of metallic (Pd) and bimetallic (Pd-Au) catalysts supported on exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnPs) that enable TCE hydrodechlorination with rate constants up to 81 times higher than those obtained for the commercial Pd/Al2O3 catalyst. Nanocomposite membranes based on these novel catalysts can remove 96% of TCE at the high permeate flux of 47.4 L/m2/h/bar. An inexpensive alternative to graphene, xGnPs as catalyst supports can enable a broad range of other cost-efficient membrane reactions.

January 2016
Claudio Calderon completes his MS project "Rejection of salt in water by nanofiltration membranes in the presence of oil droplets" and graduates. Congratulations, Claudio!!!

November 2015
A paper based on our collaboration with groups of Dr. Merlin Bruening (MSU Chemistry) and Dr. Andre Bénard (MSU Mechanical Engineering) is published in Chemical Engineering Research and Design journal: Ji, P.; Motin, A.; Wenqian Shan; Bénard, A.; Bruening, M. L.; Tarabara, V. V. Dynamic crossflow filtration with a rotating tubular membrane: Using centripetal force to decrease fouling by buoyant particles. Chem. Eng. Res. Des. 2016, 106, 101-114.


Force balance in a radial direction on a suspended negatively buoyant particle in a tubular channel with impervious walls (A) and in tubular membranes in the presence of permeate flow (B and C). As the rate of permeation through the membrane increases beyond a critical value, the direction of particle movement reverses from centripetal (B) to centrifugal (C).

Highlights:
- Rotation-induced centripetal forces move low density particles away from the lumen wall
- Fouling by low density particles decreases when rotating a tubular membrane
- Rotation preferentially prevents deposition of particles with large diameters.
- Shear forces dislodge large particles from the cake
- Swirling flow does not fully develop during membrane rotation

November 2015
A paper based on our collaboration with Drs. Jia Wei Chew and Anthony G. Fane from the Singapore Membrane Technology Center is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science: Tummons, E. N.; Tarabara, V. V.; Chew, J.-W.; Fane, A. G. Behavior of oil droplets at the membrane surface during crossflow microfiltration of oil-water emulsions. J. Membr. Sci. 2016, 500, 211-224.

Stages of oil-droplet behavior at a microfiltration membrane surface.

Highlights:
- DOTM method is used to visualize oil droplets at the membrane surface
- Fouling stages include droplet clustering, deformation, and coalescence
- Droplets that coalesce to exceed a critical size are removed by shear
- Force balance on a droplet predicts the critical droplet size
- Droplet coalescence and crossflow shear control membrane fouling by oil droplets

July 2015
Congratulations to Chris Crock and Hang Shi, PhD candidates in our group: Chris and Hang are awarded dissertation completion fellowships by MSU Graduate School.

May 2015
Our paper on photocatalytic membranes for virus control is now published:
Guo, B.; Pasco, E. V.; Xagoraraki, I.; Tarabara, V. V. Virus removal and inactivation in a hybrid microfiltration-UV process with a photocatalytic membrane. Separ. Purif. Technol. 2015, 149, 245–254.

Highlights:
- First application of photocatalytic membranes for virus removal and inactivation
- Bacteriophage P22 is used as a model virus
- Original design couples outer surface of a tubular membrane with UV light
- Hybrid photocatalytic UV-microfiltration process is effective in inactivating virus
- Potential applications include treatment of high flow rate, turbid streams

May 2015
Our paper on NF of preozonated water is now published:
Byun, S.; Taurozzi, J. S.; Tarabara, V. V. Ozonation as a pretreatment for nanofiltration: Effect of oxidation pathway on the permeate flux. Separ. Purif. Technol. 2015, 149, 174–182.

Highlights:
- Changes in permeate flux are mostly determined by calcium concentration and ozone dosage
- Oxidation via different oxidation pathways produces waters with different fouling propensities
- Oxidation by radical species leads to significant hydrophilization of humic acid
- Oxidation by radical species reduces foulant load by mineralizing organics

April 2015
Our paper on sacrificial membrane coatings is now published:
Ahmadiannamini, P.; Bruening, M. L.; Tarabara V. V. Sacrificial polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings as an approach to membrane fouling control: Disassembly and regeneration mechanisms . J. Membr. Sci. 2015, 491, 149–158. This is a collaboration with Prof. Merlin Bruening (MSU Chemistry).

Highlights:
- Polyelectrolyte multilayers can serve as sacrificial membrane layers for fouling control
- Surfactants and a pH swing disassemble PEMs by disrupting non-ionic and electrostatic bonds
- PEMs can be regenerated even after fouling by BSA and alginate
- Repeated disassembly/readsorption cycles give stable water permeabilities and selectivities

Mechanisms operative in the assembly of polyelectrolyte mutilayer membranes and their attachment to a supporting substrate in two cases: (a) the first polyelectrolyte layer has the same charge as the substrate and (b) the first polyelectrolyte layer has a charge opposite to that of the substrate.

March 2015
Our paper Yin, Z.; Tarabara, V. V.; Xagoraraki, I. Human adenovirus removal by hollow fiber membranes: Effect of membrane fouling by suspended and dissolved matter is published in the Journal of Membrane Science (J. Membr. Sci. 2015, 482, 120–127). This is a collaboration with the group of Prof. Irene Xagoraraki (MSU Environmental Engineering).

Highlights:
- Adenovirus removal from DI water is less than 2.5 log even for 0.04 µm membranes
- Particulate foulants alone decrease virus removal by 0.04 µm and 0.22 µm membranes
- Humic acid alone increases virus removal by 0.04 µm and 0.22 µm membranes
- Cake formation can increase or decrease virus removal depending on cake properties
- Fouling affects virus removal via pore blockage and cake-enhanced deltaC_virus

January 2015
Our paper Amjad, H.; Khan, Z.; Tarabara, V. V. Fractal structure and permeability of membrane cake layers: Effect of coagulation-flocculation and settling as pretreatment steps. Separ. Purif. Technol. 2015, 143, 40-51 is now published. We propose a simple method for estimating fractal dimension of membrane cakes (Dcake) based on permeate flux data and Happel permeability model. We report a correlation, over a range of coagulation-flocculation condition, between Dcake and the fractal dimension of flocs (Dfloc) in the feed suspension. Financial support for Hira Amjad's year-long stay at MSU was provided by a scholarship from the Higher Education Commission and supplementary funding from the National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan.

Highlights:
- Inline, direct, and conventional pretreatments for ultrafiltration are studied
- New method for quantifying fractal dimension of membrane cakes is proposed
- Average porosity of membrane cakes increases with filtration time
- Fractal dimensions of flocs and membrane cakes weakly correlate
- Broad range of Dfloc values maps onto a narrow range of Dcake values

Illustration of the observed scaling that is indicative of the fractal structure of membrane cakes. Scaling is shown only for the pretreatment condition that corresponds to inline-contact filtration (i.e. coagulation and minimal flocculation)

September 2014
Claudio Calderon and Christopher Crock visit MEM-TEK and the Istanbul Technical University to prepare new graphene-based membranes, learn several experimental techniques, and attend an international workshop on membrane bioreactors. Our host is the research team led by Prof. Dr. Ismail Koyuncu, Director of MEM-TEK. The visit was a part of the project funded by the U.S. NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program.

Left: Chris Crock and Reyhan Sengür making hollow fiber membranes
Right: Claudio Calderon is learning dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for membrane testing

June 2014
Our paper on virus concentration has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science:
Pasco, E. V.; Shi, H.; Xagoraraki, I.; Hashsham, S. A.; Parent, K. N.; Bruening, M. L.; Tarabara, V. V. Polyelectrolyte multilayers as anti-adhesive membrane coatings for virus concentration and recovery, J. Membr. Sci. 2014, 469, 140–150. This is a collaboration with our MSU colleagues Merlin Bruening (Chemistry), Syed Hashsham (Environmental Engineering), Irene Xagoraraki (Environmental Engineering), and Kristin Parent (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology).

Highlights:
- Anti-adhesive membrane coatings based on polyelectrolyte multilayers are designed
- Anti-adhesive membrane coatings increase pre-elution virus recovery up to 2-fold
- XDLVO virus–membrane interaction energies are computed
- Higher pre-elution recoveries can be attributed to PEM's anti-adhesiveness

Pre-elution recovery of P22 bacteriophage from deionized water by two membranes: an ultrafiltration membrane (support) blocked by calf serum and the same ultrafiltration support but coated by a polyelectrolyte (heparin/chitosan) mutilayer.

June 2014
Emily Tummons completes four month research visit to the Singapore Membrane Technology Center (SMTC) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). In collaboration with NTU Professors Jia Wei Wang and Anthony Fane our research group studies behavior of oil droplets at the membrane surface. The visit was a part of the project funded by the U.S. NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program.

June 2014
Congratulations to Dr. Pejman Ahmadiannamini for being awarded European Membrane Society's Early Stage Researcher Grant.

April 2014
Congratulations to Brian Starr for the 1st place in the poster competition at the 2014 MSU Engineering Graduate Symposium (Environmental Engineering category). Brian presented poster "Produced Water Treatment Using Hybrid Hydrocyclone-Membrane Technology" based on the project he has been working on together with Dr. Andrii Gorobets. This is a collaboration between our group and our colleagues from MSU Departments of Mechanical Engineering (Dr. Benard's group) and Chemistry (Dr. Bruening's group).

January 2014

November 2013
Congratulations to Emily Tummons for winning 1st place award for her presentation "Mechanisms of Membrane-Based Separations of Oil-Water Emulsions" in the Detection, Treatment and Modeling Technologies session at the ESPP Research Symposium.

November 2013
Chris Crock, Hang Shi and Emily Tummons pass their PhD preliminary exams. Bin Guo and Hien Dang pass their qualifiers. Congratulations, folks!

November 2013
Our paper on polymer mesocomposite membranes has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science: Dulebohn, J.; Ahmadiannamini, P.; Wang, T.; Kim, S.-S.; Pinnavaia, T. J.; Tarabara, V. V. Polymer mesocomposites: Ultrafiltration membrane materials with enhanced permeability, selectivity and fouling resistance. J. Membr. Sci. 2014, 453, 478–488. This is a collaboration with Dr. Thomas Pinnavaia's research group.

September 2013
Our paper on the behavior of oil droplets in the vicinity of a micropore is published in the Journal of Membrane Science: Darvishzadeh, T.; Tarabara, V. V.; Priezjev, N. V. Oil droplet behavior at a pore entrance in the presence of crossflow: Implications for microfiltration of oil-water dispersions. J. Membr. Sci. 2013, 447, 442-451. This is a collaboration with Dr. Nikolai Priezjev's research group.

Cross-sectional profiles of an oil droplet residing on the circular pore of 0.5 micron diameter
for several values of the capillary number, Ca.

June 2013
Our paper on graphene nanocomposite membranes is now published: Crock, C. A., Rogensues, A. R., Shan, W., Tarabara, V. V. Polymer nanocomposites with graphene-based hierarchical fillers as materials for multifunctional water treatment membranes. Water Res. 2013, 47, 3984-3996.

June 2013
Our paper "Microsized particles of Aza222 polymer as a regenerable ultrahigh affinity sorbent for the removal of mercury from aqueous solutions" is accepted for publication in Separ. Purif. Technol. This is a collaboration with Dr. Ned Jackson's research group.

Adsorption isotherm for the mercury uptake by Aza222 sorbent

May 2013
Claudio Calderon (University of New Orleans) will be joining the group as an undergraduate researcher. Claudio will spend two months with us studying viscous fingering in oil-water systems.

December 2012
Andrii Gorobets joins the group as a postdoctoral researcher.

November 2012
Hang Shi presents an award-winning poster at the MSU Engineering graduate research symposium.

November 2012
Emily Tummons passes her PhD qualifying exam.

September 2012
New grant "PIRE: Water and Commerce- Technologies to Enable Environmental Sustainability in Global Markets" is awarded. This is an international, multidisciplinary project involving research teams from USA (Duke University, MSU, North Carolina Central University), Singapore (National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University), Turkey (Istanbul Technical University, Gebze Institute of Technology), and France (Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement). The award is from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.

August 2012
New grant "Collaborative Research: Virus removal in membrane bioreactors: Role of virus aggregation and adhesion" is awarded. This is a collaboration between our team and research groups of Irene Xagoraraki (MSU) and Helen Nguyen (UIUC). The award is from the NSF Environmental Engineering program (CBET division).

August 2012
Drs. Pejman Ahmadiannamini and Miguel Herrera-Robledo join the group as postdoctoral researchers.

August 2012
Christopher Crock, Hien Dang, and Bin Guo are new PhD students in the group.

August 2012
Supported by a fellowship from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Hira Amjad joins the Tarabara lab as a visiting PhD student.

August 2012
2012 Engineering Distinguished Fellowship and 2012 Engineering Excellence Fellowship are awarded to Christopher Crock and Bin Guo, respectively. Congratulations to Chris and Bin on this well deserved recognition!

July 2012
SBIR grant "Polymer mesocomposites: Novel materials for compaction-resistant, high-flux water treatment membranes" is awarded to our partner InPore Technologies, Inc. Our group is a subcontractor on the project. The award is from the NSF Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships.

July 2012
Adam Wingate participates in the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum and presents a poster describing his work on the design of a catalytic UV reactor.

July 2012
Emily Tummons travels to Singapore to Singapore International Water Week and the NTU-MSU International Conference on the Economics and Policy of Water and the Environment.

March 2012
Congratulations to Chris Crock - he is the recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Environmental Engineering MS student award!

November 2011
Chris Crock and Elodie Pasco deliver award-winning presentations at the MSU Engineering graduate research symposium.

November - December 2011
Chris Crock together with Nick White (research group of Dr. Merlin Bruening, MSU Chemistry) visit with the research group of Professor Ismail Koyuncu at the Istanbul Technical University. Chris and Nick, together with ITU students, work at the newly established National Research Center on Membrane Technologies, MEM-TEK.

July 2010
Wenqian defends her Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations, Dr. Shan!

March 2010
Congratulations to Wenqian - she is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Graduate Student Award!

January 2009
Daniel Haldar (HSHSP) became a semifinalist of the Siemens-Westinghouse Science Talent Search competition

November 2007
Wenqian Shan together with Lu Ouyang (Bruening group, MSU Chemistry) were awarded diploma for their contribution to the project NANOMEMCAT: "Tailor-made CATalytic MEMbrane reactors with NANOstructured functional geometries for intensified chemical production". The project has been awarded the first prize in the"Synchronizing European Research" activity in NanoMemCourse EF1: "Nanostructured Materials and Membranes, Synthesis and Characterization" held in Zaragoza, Spain.