Yonsei University · Environmental Science
Professor Pyung-Kyu Park's research lab specializes in advanced membrane technologies for water treatment, focusing on the development of novel materials and processes to enhance membrane performance and mitigate fouling. Key research directions include the design of graphene oxide-based thin-film composite membranes for high-efficiency reverse osmosis, the application of quorum quenching bacteria to control biofouling in membrane bioreactors—especially under low-temperature conditions—and the immobilization of functional materials like hydrous iron oxides for effective arsenic removal. The lab also investigates membrane wetting mechanisms in membrane distillation, particularly the role of organic and inorganic foulants in reducing membrane integrity and performance.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Incorporation of single-layer graphene oxide into a highly porous support layer provides a thin-film composite reverse osmosis membrane with superior water flux.
Bacterial quorum quenching (QQ), whose mechanism involves the degradation of quorum-sensing signal molecules, is an effective strategy for controlling biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). However, MBRs operated at low temperatures, either due to cold climates or seasonal variations, exhibit severe deterioration in QQ efficiency. In this study, a modified culture method for <i>Rhodococcus</i> sp. BH4, a QQ bacterium, was developed to induce environmental adaptation in cold regions. BH4-L, w
The support layer of RO membranes can significantly affect the permeability depending on its sublayer structure.
For removal of arsenic in the aqueous phase, hydrous iron oxides (HIOs) were immobilized in alginate beads with enhanced porosity (designated as HIO-P-alginate beads).
Lab-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were investigated at 12, 18, and 25 °C to identify the correlation between quorum sensing (QS) and biofouling at different temperatures. The lower the reactor temperature, the more severe the membrane biofouling measured in terms of the transmembrane pressure (TMP) during filtration. More extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) that cause biofouling were produced at 18 °C than at 25 °C, particularly polysaccharides, closely associated with QS <i>via</i> th
Membrane wetting in membrane distillation was accelerated by inorganics and hydrophilic organics. The wetting by ozonated humic acids was enhanced with an increase in the ozone contact time.
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