Employing magnetism of FeO and hydrophilicity of ZrO to mitigate biofouling in magnetic MBR by FeO-coated ZrO/PAN nanocomposite membrane.

The aim of this research is benefiting from the synergistic effect of the simultaneous presence of FeO and ZrO in the form of FeO-coated ZrO (FeO@ZrO) nanoparticles within the structure of PAN membrane to reduce membrane fouling. The role of FeO nanoparticles in increasing the pore size and magnetic saturation as well as the role of ZrO in decreasing surface roughness and hydrophobicity can mitigate membrane fouling in magnetic-assisted membrane bioreactors. For this purpose, FeO, ZrO, and FeO@ZrO nanoparticles were embedded into PAN membrane structure and magnetic ( M), hydrophilic ( M), and magnetic-hydrophilic ( M) membranes were synthesized. M (1ZrO/PAN) membrane with a contact angle of 31 degrees, N (1FeO/PAN) with a pore size of 90 nm, and M (3ZrO/PAN) membrane with an RMS roughness of 13.5 nm were the most hydrophilic, porous, and smoothest membranes, respectively. High sensitivity to magnetic field along with high porosity, high hydrophilicity and low surface roughness simultaneously exist within the structure of Ms membranes, such that M (1FeO@ZrO/PAN) indicated 116% greater flux, 121% greater flux recovery, and 85% less total filtration resistance in comparison with the blank membrane in magnetic membrane bioreactor, at a magnetic field intensity of 120 mT and MLSS = 10,000 mg/l. As an overall conclusion, the output of this research was compared with other research in term of normalized flux. Results reveal that at MLSS = 10,000 mg/l, HRT = 8 h and TMP = 0.3 bar, M membrane has normalized flux equal to 1.56 g/m h bar which is an acceptable value compared to normalized flux reported by other researchers.