A novel nanofiltration hybrid system to control organic micro-pollutants: application of dual functional adsorbent/catalyst Original Research Article

A homogeneous catalyst, iron(III)-tetrasulfophthalocyanine (FeTsPc), was electrostatically immobilized on Amberlite IRA-400 (Amb) anion-exchange resin. The sorption behaviors and oxidation reactivities of Amb and FeTsPc-immobilized Amb were evaluated using bisphenol-A (BPA), which has received great concern as a strong endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) due to its adverse effects on human health. FeTsPc-immobilized Amb could completely remove BPA by adsorption and oxidation in the presence of H2O2 even though Amb itself could remove BPA to a certain degree by adsorption. The stability of FeTsPc was improved by immobilizing it on Amb. Two NF membrane systems including NF-only system (conventional NF) and NF-hybrid system (NF combined with FeTsPc-immobilized Amb) were compared in continuous tests.