Hussein Mahmoud El-Ghorab

This work delves into the critical issue of emerging contaminants in wastewater and the imperative need for their removal to safeguard water resources and human health. Various classes of emerging contaminants are identified, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, dyes, and personal care products, each posing unique challenges. The detrimental effects of emerging contaminants on aquatic ecosystems and human health are explored, emphasizing the urgency of effective removal strategies. Methods such as advanced oxidation processes, membrane separation, adsorption, and photocatalytic processes are discussed for emerging contaminants removal, with a specific focus on the efficacy of membrane bioreactors. Different membrane Bioreactors configurations are detailed, highlighting their potential in addressing emerging contaminants. The article also covers the critical concept of some operational parameters involving the solids retention time and hydraulic retention time in membrane bioreactors, as well as other operational parameters such as flux, flux recovery, transmembrane pressure, membrane aeration rate, crossflow velocity, and cleaning cycle, and their impacts on the system performance. The importance of membrane bioreactors in treating different types of wastewater, the challenges associated with the removal of contaminants, and the mechanisms, performance evaluations, and optimization strategies for membrane bioreactors in sustainable wastewater management are also discussed.

Water scarcity is a critical global issue exacerbated by pollution and inefficient water management. Traditional water treatment methods are often insufficient to address complex pollutants. This study investigates the fabrication and performance of photocatalytic membrane (polyethersulfone (PES) membranes incorporated with photocatalytic nanoparticles of titanium dioxide doped with silver) for photodegradation of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The membranes were prepared using the non solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method and tested their photocatalytic activity in degrading proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), and dyes such as methyl orange (MO), and methylene blue (MB). Results indicated that the incorporation of nanoparticles significantly improved the degradation efficiency of the pollutants, with the highest performance observed in photocatalytic membranes with the highest nanoparticles content. The study demonstrates the potential of photocatalytic membranes for advanced water treatment applications, offering a promising solution for removal of complex pollutants, mitigating water pollution and scarcity.