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In this study, we investigated the production conditions of Quercus coccifera hydrochar, which is an inexpensive and easy available adsorbent, for the adsorption of Basic Red 18 (BR18) azo dye. The hydrochar was produced in the eco-friendly subcritical water medium (SWM). The effects of the pH (2–10), adsorbent size (45–106 μm), adsorbent dose (0.5–1.5 g/L), dye concentration (40–455 mg/L), and contact time (5–120 min) were studied via optimization experiments. The optimum conditions were pH 10, particle size of 45 μm, particle amount of 1.5 g/L, dye concentration of 455 mg/L, and 60 min. The removal efficiency increased sharply for the first 5 min; after that the removal efficiency reached a steady state at 60 min, with a maximum removal of 88.7%. The kinetic studies for the adsorption of BR18 dye in aqueous solution using hydrochar showed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to explain the relationship between adsorbent and adsorbate, and Freundlich isotherm was the most suitable model because of its high regression coefficient (R2) value. The intraparticle diffusion model was used to determine the adsorption mechanism of BR18 onto Q. coccifera acorn hydrochar. Desorption studies were also carried out using different types of acid and different molarities.

Membrane fouling is a serious handicap of membrane-based separation, as it reduces permeation flux and hence increases operational and maintenance expenses. Polyurethane–paraffin wax (PU/PW) nanocapsules were integrated into the polyethersulfone membrane to manufacture a composite membrane with higher antifouling and permeability performance against humic acid (HA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) foulants. All manufactured membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), and contact angle. The contact angle of the pristine polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was measured 73.40 ± 1.32. With the embedding of nanocapsules, the contact angle decreased to 64.55 ± 1.23 for PES/PU/PW 2.0 wt%, and the pure water flux of all composite membranes increased when compared to pristine PES. The pristine PES membrane also has shown the lowest steady-state fluxes at 45.84 and 46.59 L/m2h for BSA and HA, respectively. With the increase of PU/PW nanocapsule ratio from 0.5 to 1.0 wt%, steady-state fluxes increased from 51.96 to 71.61 and from 67.87 to 98.73 L/m2h, respectively, for BSA and HA. The results depicted that BSA and HA rejection efficiencies of PU/PW nanocapsules blended PES membranes increased when compared to pristine PES membranes.

This work concerns the preparation of a mineral membrane by the slip casting method based on zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and kaolin. The membrane support is produced from a mixture of clay (kaolin) and calcium carbonate (calcite) powders using heat treatment (sintering). Membrane and support characterization were performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Raman Spectroscopy. The prepared mineral membrane was tested to treat drinking water obtained from different zones of the El Athmania (Algeria) water station (raw, coagulated, decanted, and bio filtered water). Experimental parameters such as permeate flux, turbidity, and total coliforms were monitored. The results showed that the mineral membrane was mainly composed of SiO2 and Al2O3 and the outer surface, which represented the membrane support, was much more porous than the inner surface where the membrane was deposited. The permeate flux of the raw water decreased with filtration time, due to a rejection of the organic matters contained in the raw water. Moreover, the absence of total coliforms in the filtrate and the increase in concentration in the concentrate indicate that the prepared mineral membrane can be used for drinking water treatment.

Antibacterial membranes have attracted researchers’ interest in recent years as a possible approach for dealing with biofouling on the membrane surface. This research aims to see if blending AZ63 Mg alloy into a polyethersulphone (PES) membrane can improve antifouling and separation properties. The composite membranes’ pure water flux continued to increase from pristine PES to PES/AZ63 2.00 wt%. The results showed that PES/AZ63 2.00 wt% membrane supplied the highest permeate flux of E. coli. The steady-state fluxes of AZ63 composite membranes were 113.24, 104.38 and 44.79 L/m2h for PES/AZ63 2.00 wt%, 1.00 wt%, and 0.50 wt%, respectively. The enhanced biological activity of AZ63 was studied based on antioxidant activity, DNA cleavage, antimicrobial, anti-biofilm, bacterial viability inhibition and photodynamic antimicrobial therapy studies. The maximum DPPH scavenging activity was determined as 81.25% with AZ63. AZ63 indicated good chemical nuclease activity and also showed moderate antimicrobial activity against studied strains. The highest biofilm inhibition of AZ63 was 83.25% and 71.63% towards P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, respectively. The cell viability inhibition activity of AZ63 was found as 96.34% against E. coli. The photodynamic antimicrobial therapy results displayed that AZ63 demonstrated 100% bacterial inhibition when using E. coli.

Marine pollution has been considered an increasing problem because of the increase in sea transportation day by day. Therefore, a large volume of bilge water which contains petroleum, oil and hydrocarbons in high concentrations is generated from all types of ships. In this study, treatment of bilge water by electrocoagulation/electroflotation and nanofiltration integrated process is investigated as a function of voltage, time, and initial pH with aluminum electrode as both anode and cathode. Moreover, a commercial NF270 flat-sheet membrane was also used for further purification. Box–Behnken design combined with response surface methodology was used to study the response pattern and determine the optimum conditions for maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and minimum metal ion contents of bilge water. Three independent variables, namely voltage (5–15 V), initial pH (4.5–8.0) and time (30–90 min) were transformed to coded values. The COD removal percent, UV absorbance at 254 nm, pH value (after treatment), and concentration of metal ions (Ti, As, Cu, Cr, Zn, Sr, Mo) were obtained as responses. Analysis of variance results showed that all the models were significant except for Zn (P > 0.05), because the calculated F values for these models were less than the critical F value for the considered probability (P = 0.05). The obtained R2 and Radj2 values signified the correlation between the experimental data and predicted responses: except for the model of Zn concentration after treatment, the high R2 values showed the goodness of fit of the model. While the increase in the applied voltage showed negative effects, the increases in time and pH showed a positive effect on COD removal efficiency; also the most effective linear term was found as time. A positive sign of the interactive coefficients of the voltage–time and pH–time systems indicated synergistic effect on COD removal efficiency, whereas interaction between voltage and pH showed an antagonistic effect.

In this study, we investigated the effect of different organic binders on the morphologic structure of ceramic membrane support. Natural raw clay material (kaolin) was used as the main mineral for ceramic membrane support. The physical and chemical properties of kaolin powder and the supports were identified by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size and zeta potential distribution. Based on the XRF test, the main composition of kaolin powder was SiO2 (47.41%) and Al2O3 (38.91%), while the rest were impurities. The FTIR spectra showed the functional groups of Si-O and Al-O. The XRD diffractogram of natural raw clay powder identified kaolinite and nacrite were the main mineral phase whereas muscovite and quartz were detected in small quantities in the sample. After prepared the ceramic membrane supports, XRD diffractogram showed that anorthite and gehlenite were detected as the main mineral phases for ethylene glycol (EG), gelatin, methocel and for polyethylene glycol (PEG), respectively. According to BET analyses, the maximum and the minimum pore width were obtained for PEG and gelatin organic binders.

This study was performed to synthesize membranes of polyethersulfone (PES) blended with graphene oxide (GO) and PES blended with GO functionalized with photoactive semiconductor catalyst (TiO2 and ZnO). The antifouling and self-cleaning properties of composite membranes were also investigated. The GO was prepared from natural graphite powder by oxidation method at low temperature. TiO2 and ZnO nanopowders were synthesized by anhydrous sol–gel method. The surface of TiO2 and ZnO nanopowders was modified by a surfactant (myristic acid) to obtain a homogeneously dispersed mixture in a solvent, and then GO was functionalized by loading with these metal oxide nanopowders. The PES membranes blended with GO and functionalized GO into the casting solution were prepared via phase inversion method and tested for their antifouling as well as self-cleaning properties. The composite membranes were synthesized as 14%wt. of PES polymer with three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0%wt.) of GO, GO-TiO2, and GO-ZnO. The functionalization of membranes improved hydrophilicity property of membranes as compared to neat PES membrane. However, the lowest flux was obtained by functionalized membranes with GO-TiO2. The results showed that functionalized membranes demonstrated better self-cleaning property than neat PES membrane. Moreover, the flux recovery rate of functionalized membranes over five cycles was higher than that of neat membrane.

A multilayer polyelectrolyte ceramic membrane using LbL was assembled to test the performance of water disinfection capability. The natural raw clay material (kaolin) was used as the main ceramic membrane (CM) support. The impact of the number of polyelectrolyte bilayers (2, 4, 6) on the retention of Escherichia coli was systematically investigated. Test results showed the water permeability coefficients (Lp) were 85.3 L/m2.h.bar and 69.5, 28.3, 50.1 L/m2.h.bar for pristine (CM0) and ceramic membranes with two bilayers (CM2), four bilayers (CM4), and six bilayers (CM6), respectively. Complete retention of E. coli was achieved by the multilayer polyelectrolyte ceramic membrane with four bilayers. The surface morphology of the multilayer polyelectrolyte ceramic membrane was identified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the multilayer polyelectrolyte ceramic membrane can be safely applied in providing water disinfection.

Adsorption and advanced oxidation processes are being extensively used for treatment of wastewater containing dye chemicals. In this study, the adsorption and Fenton behavior of iron rich Terra Rosa soil was investigated for the treatment of aqueous anthraquinone dye (Reactive Blue 19 (RB19)) solutions. The impact of pH, initial dye concentration, soil loading rate, contact time and temperature was systematically investigated for adsorption process. A maximum removal efficiency of dye (86.6%) was obtained at pH 2, soil loading of 10 g/L, initial dye concentration of 25 mg/L, and contact time of 120 min. Pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and Weber–Morris kinetic models were applied to describe the adsorption mechanism and sorption kinetic followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were used to investigate the isothermal mechanism and equilibrium data were well represented by the Langmuir equation. The maximum adsorption capacity of soil was found as 4.11 mg/g using Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The effect of soil loading and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) dosage was solely tested for Fenton oxidation process. The highest removal efficiency of dye (89.4%) was obtained at pH 2, H2O2 dosage of 10 mM, soil loading of 5 g/L, initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L, and contact time of 60 min. Thermodynamic studies showed that when the adsorption dosage of dye was 25 mg/L at 293–313 K, adsorption enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) were negative and adsorption free energy (ΔG) was positive. This result indicated that the adsorption was exothermic. Morphological characteristics of the soil were evaluated by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy before and after the adsorption and oxidation process.

In this study, the treatability of plasticizer production industry wastewater was investigated using nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The effect of operating pressure, pH of the wastewater, and sequential treatment option on the permeate flux, COD, phthalate, and micropollutant removal efficiencies were examined. The steady-state permeate fluxes of NF270, NF90, and BW30 membranes were 47.1, 19.0, and 13.9 L/m2/h for 15 bar, respectively. Sequential filtration using NF90 and BW30 membranes to protect the RO membrane was also tested. The initial and steady-state permeate fluxes were 30.4 and 18.9 L/m2/h, respectively, for 15 bar. The effect of wastewater pH in the range 4.0–10.0 was also studied and maximum initial and steady-state permeate fluxes were obtained at pH = 10.0. The permeate quality of NF90 and NF90 + BW30 membranes operated at 15 bar was measured and they showed a high degree for phthalate removal from wastewater from 97.7% to 99.9%. Moreover, a high degree of micropollutants was also obtained from 88.4% to 99.9% for sequential filtration (NF90 + BW30). The COD reduction efficiencies were obtained at 15 bar as 23.3%, 81.5%, and 87.6% for individual NF270, NF90, and BW30 membranes, respectively. However, COD reduction efficiency was increased up to 90.8% when sequential filtration (NF90 + BW30) was applied.