Control and cleaning of membrane biofouling by biogenic silver nanoparticles

Membrane biofouling as the main obstacle strongly hinders the wider application of membrane technology. The control of biofouling development and the fouled membrane cleaning still are the big challenge in membrane industry. The present study investigated the control of initial bacterial attachment, biofilm development and finally the membrane cleaning by biogenic silver nanoparticles (Bio-Ag⁰-6) using commercial microfiltration membranes as the substrate. The results revealed that the Bio-Ag⁰-6 could inhibit the development of biofilm by decreasing the attachment of cells and the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Significant improvements of flux recovery ratio (FRR), the distribution of fouling resistances and the decrease of total fouling resistance ( R_f ) were achieved when introducing Bio-Ag⁰-6 to dead-end microfiltration systems. The membrane cleaning experiment verified the enhanced biofilm detachment from membrane surface by Bio-Ag⁰-6. It shows that Bio-Ag⁰-6 would be a good alternative to relieve membrane biofouling. (paper)