Employing magnetism of Fe₃O₄ and hydrophilicity of ZrO₂ to mitigate biofouling in magnetic MBR by Fe₃O₄-coated ZrO₂/PAN nanocomposite membrane

Authors

Amin Noormohamadi, Maryam Homayoonfal, Mohammad Reza Mehrnia, Fatemeh Davar

Publication date

2020/9/5

Journal

Environmental technology

Volume

41

Issue

20

Pages

2683-2704

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Description

The aim of this research is benefiting from the synergistic effect of the simultaneous presence of Fe₃O₄ and ZrO₂ in the form of Fe₃O₄-coated ZrO₂ (Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂) nanoparticles within the structure of PAN membrane to reduce membrane fouling. The role of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in increasing the pore size and magnetic saturation as well as the role of ZrO₂ in decreasing surface roughness and hydrophobicity can mitigate membrane fouling in magnetic-assisted membrane bioreactors. For this purpose, Fe₃O₄, ZrO₂, and Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂ nanoparticles were embedded into PAN membrane structure and magnetic (M _nM), hydrophilic (H _nM), and magnetic-hydrophilic (HM _nM) membranes were synthesized. H ₁M (1ZrO₂/PAN) membrane with a contact angle of 31 degrees, M ₁N (1Fe₃O₄/PAN) with a pore size of 90 nm, and H ₃M (3ZrO₂/PAN) membrane with an …