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To unravel fouling and defouling mechanisms of protein, saccharides and natural organic matters (NOM) on polymeric membrane during filtration, this study investigated filtration characteristics on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ultrafiltration membranes with bovine serum albumin, dextran, humic acid as model foulants. Membrane fouling and defouling performances were analyzed through monitoring the flux decline during filtration and flux recovery during physical backwash. Physico-chemical properties (e.g., hydrophobicity and surface charge) of PVC membrane and foulants were characterized, which were used in the extended Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (EDLVO) theory to calculate the interaction energies between membrane foulant and foulant-foulant. The results showed that at the later filtration stages the fouling rate was strongly correlated with the deposition rate, which was determined by the interaction energy profile calculated by EDLVO. Moreover, the adhesion forces of membrane–foulant and foulant–foulant were further measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) with modified colloidal probes. A positive correlation (R2 =0.845) between particle detachment rate (determined by adhesion force) and defouling rate was developed for BSA and HA foulants that led to cake layer formation. By contrast, dextran defouling rate was off this correlation as dextran partially clogged membrane pores due to its smaller size. 

Abstract The application of hardware‐based neural networks can be enhanced by integrating sensory neurons and synapses that enable direct input from external stimuli. This work reports direct optical control of an oscillatory neuron based on volatile threshold switching in V₃O₅. The devices exhibit electroforming‐free operation with switching parameters that can be tuned by optical illumination. Using temperature‐dependent electrical measurements, conductive atomic force microscopy (C‐AFM), in situ thermal imaging, and lumped element modelling, it is shown that the changes in switching parameters, including threshold and hold voltages, arise from overall conductivity increase of the oxide film due to the contribution of both photoconductive and bolometric characteristics of V₃O₅, which eventually affects the oscillation dynamics. Furthermore, V₃O₅is identified as a new bolometric material with a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) as high as −4.6% K⁻¹at 423 K. The utility of these devices is illustrated by demonstrating in‐sensor reservoir computing with reduced computational effort and an optical encoding layer for spiking neural network (SNN), respectively, using a simulated array of devices.