Understanding the antifouling mechanisms related to copper oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in anaerobic membrane bioreactors
Type
ArticleAuthors
Cheng, Hong
Guan, Qingtian

Villalobos, Luis Francisco

Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor

Pain, Arnab

Hong, Pei-Ying

KAUST Department
Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research CenterBiological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division
Bioscience Program
Chemical Engineering Program
Environmental Microbial Safety and Biotechnology Lab
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Pathogen Genomics Laboratory
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
KAUST Grant Number
FCC/1/1971-32-01Date
2019-01-01Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/660414
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Show full item recordAbstract
Biofouling impedes the performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactors. In this study, we aim to determine if copper oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles can effectively delay the biofouling of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes without disseminating emerging contaminants like antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs). A consequential decrease in biofilm composition related to total cells, polysaccharides, proteins, and bioactivity (i.e., adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and quorum sensing (QS) signal molecules) was observed in the presence of heavy metal nanoparticles. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses further attributed the delay of biofilm formation to the lower expression of QS-associated genes and biofilm formation genes. It was also determined that the expression of ARGs and MRGs was not stimulated in the presence of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles. These findings collectively suggest that CuO and ZnO nanoparticles embedded in membranes can delay biofouling with minimal potential for disseminating ARGs and MRGs post-treatment.Citation
Cheng, H., Guan, Q., Villalobos, L. F., Peinemann, K.-V., Pain, A., & Hong, P.-Y. (2019). Understanding the antifouling mechanisms related to copper oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in anaerobic membrane bioreactors. Environmental Science: Nano, 6(11), 3467–3479. doi:10.1039/c9en00872aSponsors
This study is supported by KAUST Center Competitive Funding FCC/1/1971-32-01 awarded to P.-Y. Hong.Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)Journal
Environmental Science: NanoAdditional Links
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=C9EN00872Ahttps://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/en/c9en00872a
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1039/c9en00872a
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Articles; Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division; Bioscience Program; Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research Center; Environmental Science and Engineering Program; Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division; Chemical Engineering Program; Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Archived with thanks to Environmental Science: Nano