Synergistic effect of hydrophobic microbubble enrichment with hydrophilic ceramic membrane filtration: Toward enhanced biomass separation and antifouling performance

Membrane technology holds great potential for algae-laden water treatment, but membrane fouling and energy consumption hinder its scalability. Herein, we developed a hydrophilic ZrO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ceramic membrane and integrated it with hydrophobic microbubble enrichment, significantly improving filtration performance. Based on density functional theory, the adsorption energy of ZrO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ceramic membrane for water molecules was demonstrated to be −2.06 eV, and the membrane hydrophilicity was significantly enhanced. The experimental results revealed that the synergistic integration of hydrophobic microbubble enrichment and hydrophilic ceramic membrane filtration reduced the ceramic membrane's reversible and irreversible fouling resistance by 74.4 % and 76.0 %, respectively. In addition, the interactions between the altered algal flocs induced by hydrophobic microbubbles with both the membrane surface and the cake layer were weakened during the initial and later filtration phases. The free energy interaction between the algal flocs and the cake layer increased from −9.0 mJ/m 2 to 14.7 mJ/m 2 . The economic analysis further demonstrated that this synergistic approach not only enhanced biomass separation efficiency but also lowered operational costs, offering a scalable solution for sustainable biomass separation.