Magnetic confinement-enabled membrane reactor for enhanced removal of wide-spectrum contaminants in water: Proof of concept, synergistic decontamination mechanisms, and sustained treatment performance

Delai Zhong, Yuchen Wu, Leiyi Lv, Xue Yang, Yiliang Lv, Yi Jiang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Membrane chemical reactors (MCRs) have demonstrated a great potential for simultaneous removal of wide-spectrum pollutants in advanced water treatment. However, current catalyst (re)loading and catalytic reactivity limitations obstruct their practical applications. Herein, as a proof-of-concept, we report a hollow fiber membrane chemical reactor (HF-MCR) with high and sustainable catalytic reactivity, enabled by novel magnetic confinement engineering of the catalysts. Namely, the zerovalent iron (ZVI) nanocatalysts were spatially dispersed and confined to nearly parallel magnetic induction lines, forming forest-like microwire arrays in the membrane lumen. Such arrays exhibited ultrahigh hydrodynamic stability. The HF-MCR integrated sequential membrane separation and Fenton-like catalysis, thus being capable of high and synergistic wide-spectrum decontamination. The membrane separation process completely removed large nanoplastics (NPs) via size exclusion, and thus the subsequent Fenton-like catalysis process enhanced removal efficiency of otherwise permeated bisphenol A (BPA) and phosphate (P) by in situ generated reactive oxygen species (primarily 1O2) and iron (oxyhydr)oxides, respectively. Furthermore, highly dispersed ZVI arrays and their continuous surface depassivation driven by magnetic gradient and hydrodynamic forces conferred abundant accessible catalytic sites (i.e., Fe0 and FeII) to stimulate Fenton-like catalysis. The consequent enhancement of BPA and P removal kinetics was 3–765 and 49–492 folds those in conventional (flow-through or batch) systems, respectively. Periodic ZVI reloading ensured sustained decontamination performance of the HF-MCR. This is the first demonstration of the magnetic confinement engineering that enables efficient and unlimited catalyst (re)loading and sustainable catalytic reactivity in the MCR for water treatment, which is beyond the reach of current approaches.

Original languageEnglish
Article number119603
JournalWater Research
Volume231
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • Magnetic confinement engineering
  • Membrane chemical reactor
  • Sustainable reactivity
  • Water treatment
  • Wide-spectrum contaminants

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Ecological Modelling
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution

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