Employing magnetism of Fe 3 O 4 and hydrophilicity of ZrO 2 to mitigate biofouling in magnetic MBR by Fe 3 O 4 coated ZrO 2 /PAN nanocomposite membrane.

The aim of this research is benefiting from the synergistic effect of simultaneous presence of Fe3 O4 and ZrO2 in the form of Fe3 O4 coated ZrO2 (Fe3 O4 @ZrO2 ) nanoparticles within the structure of PAN membrane to reduce membrane fouling. The role of Fe3 O4 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, Fe3 O4 , ZrO2 , and Fe3 O4 @ZrO2 nanoparticles were embedded into PAN membrane structure and magnetic (Mn M), hydrophilic (Hn M), and magnetic-hydrophilic (HMn M) membranes were synthesized. H1 M (1ZrO2 /PAN) membrane with contact angle of 31 degree, M1 N (1Fe3 O4 /PAN) with pore size of 90 nm, and H3 M (3ZrO2 /PAN) membrane with 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 MHMs membranes, such that MH1 M (1Fe3 O4 @ZrO2 /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=10000 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=10000 mg/l, HRT= 8h and TMP= 0.3 bar, MH1 M membrane has normalized flux equal to 1.56 g/m2 .h.bar which is an acceptable value compared to normalized flux reported by other researchers.