Copper Nanoparticles Coupled with Fine-Powdered Active Carbon-Modified Ceramic Membranes for Improved Filtration Performance in a Membrane Bioreactor

Membrane fouling is a key factor limiting the application of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), and membrane-surface modification holds the potential to control membrane fouling and solves this problem. In the research, novel nanocomposite membranes were designed and fabricated using antimicrobial copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) coupled with powdered active carbon (PAC) to mitigate membrane fouling. The successful coating was confirmed by SEM, XRD, and FTIR analysis. Compared with a pristine membrane, the functionalization of CuNPs and PAC improved the hydrophilicity of the modified membrane but led to a lower permeate flux. The result of antimicrobial adhesion experiments showed that the modified M-CuOC displayed high antibacterial activity with the bacteria count decreased by 72%. In MBR operation, the modified M-CuOC leads to the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD) increasing to 93%, with better filtration performance under a lower TMP rise. The fouling-resistance analysis demonstrated that, although the intrinsic membrane resistance of modified M-CuOC slightly increased, the reversible and irreversible fouling resistances obviously decreased by 45% and 90%. Moreover, the membrane flux recovery efficiency of the modified M-CuOC also increased by 35%. Overall, these results indicated that, in addition to an improvement in antifouling performance, the functionalization of CuNPs and PAC also enhanced the membrane flux recovery efficiency, revealing a good antifouling potential in a practical application.