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This study aims to analyse the morphological structure of organo-silica membranes and investigate their use and performance in a hybrid photocatalytic–pervaporation process for the desalination of wetland saline water. When applied to such raw water sources, this hybrid process – which is shown to have a number of benefits, including excellent water flux and salt rejection, and reduced membrane fouling – has the potential to produce clean water that is often needed in both developing and developed countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silica material has limited hydrostability when it is produced as a thin film. In order to mitigate this restriction a modification strategy is needed. This article provides details of mesoporous hybrid organo-silica thin films that were successfully fabricated from a combination of a dual silicate precursor of tetraethyl orthosilicate/triethoxy vinyl silane, using organic catalysts. The research investigated the effect of calcination temperatures (350°C and 600°C) on the materials, and compared the application of single (citric acid) and dual catalysts (citric acid and ammonia) during fabrication of the thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland saline water is the enormous problem faced by rural people in Kalimantan, Indonesia. During rainy season, seawater intrudes wetland aquifer and turns water to saline. Application of membrane silica–pectin is eligible to solve this issue. Sadly, this water contains high concentration of organic matter that contributes to declining of membrane performance. Therefore, coagulation pretreatment is explored to enhance membrane filtration performance. The objective of this work is to investigate the optimum condition of coagulation pretreatment to enhance silica–pectin membrane performance for wetland saline water desalination. Sol gel process was employed to fabricate silica–pectin membrane and calcined via rapid thermal processing technique. Desalination was operated by pervaporation at 25–60°C. Maximum removal of organic matter UV254 was obtained at coagulant 30 g L−1 of 83.5% (pH 7). Combination processes between coagulation pretreatment and silica–pectin membranes offered high water flux at 60°C (12.2 kg m−2 h−1). The UV254 rejection of the feed water with coagulation is 43% higher than without applying coagulation pretreatment. Overall, salt rejection for all processes was extremely good (99.9%). Application of coagulation as pretreatment is promising to enhance performance of silica–pectin membrane for wetland water desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides details of a study that fabricated interlayer-free pectin template silica membranes and then employed them in a series of experiments for the desalination of brackish water using pervaporation. The main objective of this research is to investigate the performance of the membranes in the desalination application and to look at ways of improving their mechanical stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity has become a serious problem worldwide. Research is now looking at the fabrication and use of interlayer-free silica–pectin membranes for sea-water desalination as one potential solution to this problem. This research work investigates the performance of interlayer-free silica–pectin membranes for artificial sea-water desalination. A dual acid–base catalyst process is applied during the sol–gel process used to prepare the membrane's thin layer structure. Membranes were prepared using tetraethyl orthosilicate as the silica precursor and various concentrations of pectin (0 wt%, 0.1 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 2.5 wt%) were used as the "templating" agent. The performance of membranes was evaluated using pervaporation (PV) processes at room temperature (~25°C). The results show that water flux for 0.1 wt% pectin was the highest (4.50 kg m−2 h−1 and 5.73 kg m−2 h−1, at calcination temperatures of 300°C and 400°C, respectively). The fluxes at 0.5 wt% and 2.5 wt% pectin concentration were much lower, compared with 0.1 wt% (3.12–0.51 kg m−2 h−1 for both, at calcination temperatures of 300°C and 400°C). In addition, the salt rejection for all membranes remained excellent, at ~99.9%. This clearly demonstrates that carbon chains in silica matrices may produce smaller and stronger pores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows, for the first time, the synthesis of a carbonised pectin templated silica thin-film material. The aim of this work is to investigate the vibration of carbon groups of pectin–silica xerogels using infrared spectroscopy and curve-fitting software. Thin films were prepared using a two-step acid–base catalysed sol-gel method, employing tetraethyl orthosilicate as the main precursor. Various concentrations of pectin (0.1 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 2.5 wt%) were used as templating agents. These were firstly dissolved in glycerol, and mixed with the silica thin-film material. The sols was then dried in an oven at 60°C for 12 h, and calcined in air using rapid thermal processing at 300°C and 400°C for 1 h. The results show that the concentration of carbon groups for samples calcined under 400°C is higher than that of samples calcined at 300°C – especially in the region of 800 cm−1 for silica-carbon. This clearly shows that the calcination temperature influences the polymerisation of carbon group templates in the silica matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities in some wetland areas in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, find it difficult to access clean water because surface water is contaminated by saltwater intrusion, especially during the rainy season. Membrane technology provides a solution to this problem by removing the salt contained in the raw water. The membranes used are generally composed of a porous material – thin-film – medium that functions to separate particles with a specific molecular size from the solution. The purpose of this study is to synthesise and fabricate silica-based membranes using an organo-catalyst calcined at a low calcination temperature (200°C and 250°C) through rapid thermal processing. In order to fabricate these membranes, the sol–gel method was applied, using tetraethyl orthosilicate as the silica precursor and citric acid as an organo-catalyst (refluxed at 0°C and 50°C). The results show that all membranes prepared with the organo-catalyst produce mesoporous structures. The highest surface area and pore size achieved were 354 m2/g and 0.215 cm3/g, respectively, refluxed at 0°C. Furthermore, silica-based membranes calcined at 250°C showed lower silanol concentration compared with those calcined at 200°C. In addition, the organo-catalyst (citric acid) acts as a carbon source in the silica matrices and may increase the hydrostability of the silica networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • First demonstration of rapid thermal processing (RTP) of inorganic hollow fibers. • RTP is a surface adiabatic process leading to hierarchical asymmetric hollow fibres. • Composite of char and titania with excellent structure–property-performance control. • Titania anatase phase morphology was thermally shielding by the carbonaceous char. • Overcome trade-off between textural porosity and photocatalytic efficiency. Abstract A series of photocatalytic TiO 2 –carbon composite hollow fibres (HFs) was prepared in this study by a wet-dry phase inversion spinning method followed by a rapid thermal processing (RTP). The RTP method consists of two stages: (1) calcination at 800 °C for 15 min encased in a quartz tube followed by (2) a short open heating exposure at 800 °C for 0 to 7.5 min in air. The innovative two-stage RTP method led to a time saving of more than 90%. Results revealed that the pyrolysis conditions during the second stage of HF fabrication were essential to the final physical and chemical properties of resultant TiO 2 -carbon HFs, such as TiO 2 crystallinity and carbon content, mechanical, textural and electronic properties, as well as photocatalytic reactivity. The best results show that HFs pyrolysed for a short duration (< 2 min) in the second stage produced a high microporous surface area of 217.8 m2·g−1, a good mechanical strength of 11 MPa and a TiO 2 anatase-to-rutile (A / R) ratio of 1.534 on the HF surface. The HFs also achieved a 68% degradation of acid orange 7 dye with a k app of 0.0147 min−1 based on a Langmuir-Hinshelwood model during the photocatalysis under UV light. Thus, this work provides a new synthesis protocol with significant time and cost savings to produce high-quality HFs for wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic, hollow fiber membranes based on nanocomposites of titania nanoparticles and carbonaceous char were simultaneously fabricated in a single calcination step, and then optimized for the photo-degradation of pollutants and water recovery in an integrated membrane operation in this study. The physicochemical, mechanical and photocatalytic properties along with separation performance of two series of membranes were finely-tuned by systematically changing the calcination temperature (series 1: 500–1000 °C for 8 h holding time) and calcination time (series 2: 2–8 h at 600 °C). The calcined membranes were extensively characterized for morphology, thermal stability, microstructure, modulus and chemical compositions. Both constituents of titania and char are essential in deriving the desirable hollow fiber properties and membrane performance for photocatalysis and water recovery. By controlling the calcination conditions, membranes prepared at 600 °C for the 3 and 6 h duration displayed an optimal balance between enhanced mechanical strength (34 MPa) and high photo-degradation of acid orange 7 (90.4%). Membrane performance demonstrated water fluxes of 6.9 (H 2 O/dark), 12.9 (H 2 O/UV) 4.8 (AO7/dark) and 7.9 L m –2 h –1 (AO7/UV) with excellent organic dye rejection. Both membranes exhibited photo-induced super-hydrophilicity and defouling potential under the influence of UV light due to the photo-activation of exposed TiO 2 nanoparticles on the membrane surface. The detailed mechanism of property correlation and separation performance for the photocatalytic hollow fibers is proposed and elucidated. This work offers an innovative material for the research avenue of photocatalytic, hollow fiber membrane reactors for advanced membrane treatment applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous, interlayer-free, hybrid carbon-silica matrices and membranes based on tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), organosilica of triethoxyvinylsilane (TEVS) and pluronic triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (P123) were successfully prepared using an acid-base catalysed sol-gel method for desalination applications. These membranes were carbonized to form the hybrid carbon-silica structures under inert conditions in vacuum and nitrogen. The effects of calcination conditions on the structure-property relationship of the carbon-silica xerogels were elucidated, and the membrane performances were systematically studied using brackish (1 wt%) to brine (15 wt%) feed concentrations of sodium chloride solution and feed temperatures (25–60 °C) under pervaporation process. Vacuum calcined (CS-Vc) membrane produced a slightly more mesoporous matrix and higher carbon yield than the nitrogen calcined (CS-N 2 ) membrane, and hence, led to comparatively superior desalination performance. CS-Vc membranes produced high water fluxes of 26.5 (1 wt%, 60 °C) and 9.2 (15 wt%, 60 °C) L m −2 h −1 with salt rejections of 99.5% and 98.6%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the combined strategy of hybrid organosilica with polymeric template and vacuum calcination offered the carbonized silica mesostructure membranes with excellent separation of water from the hydrated salt ions, and importantly, high water fluxes particularly for processing brine salt solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work shows the concept of a simple, single-step, partial pyrolysis approach to prepare inorganic composite hollow fibers at low temperature conditions. Two series of robust, photocatalytic and high-performance membranes were synthesized by changing the pyrolysis temperature (Series 1: 500–600 °C for 8 h) and time (Series 2: 550 °C for 3–12 h), leading to the formation of a composite matrix consisted of carbonaceous char and titania nanoparticles. Chemical composition, phase of crystallinity, mechanical strength, textural characteristics, morphology and photocatalytic activity of the hollow fibers were comprehensively characterized. Mechanical strength of the hollow fibers was found to directly attribute to the amount of char and porosity. Hollow fibers, prepared using 8 h at 550 and 575 °C or 6 h at 550 °C condition, displayed a good balance between the highest mechanical strength of 52 MPa and photo-degradation of 90.4% of acid orange 7 under ultra-violet light. This was attributed to the optimization of degree of char derived from the binder and the exposure of anatase titania nanoparticles on the hollow fiber surface made available for photo-oxidation. This work offers the opportunity for future development of a fully integrated photocatalysis and membrane operation for wastewater treatment applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous cobalt oxide silica matrices and membranes were successfully prepared using a dual acid–base catalysed sol-gel and interlayer-free approach for desalination applications. The effects of cobalt addition (0–35 mol%) on the structure–property relationship of the silica materials and membrane performance were systematically studied as a function of feed salt concentration (0.3–7.5 wt.% NaCl) and temperature (22–60 °C). As cobalt concentration increases beyond 5 mol%, the concentration of tricobalt tetroxide and proportion of silica mesopores were found to increase within the matrices. Silica membranes with high amount of tricobalt tetroxide (35 mol%) were found to be highly mesoporous with water fluxes of 20, 11.3 and 7.7 kg m − 2 h − 1 for the 0.3, 3.5 and 7.5 wt.% solutions at 60 °C, respectively, with > 99.7% salt rejection at all times. This is attributed to the high pore volume (mesopores formation) and structural robustness of the silica network provided by the presence of tricobalt tetroxide. Even higher performance was achieved for low tricobalt tetroxide (1 mol%) silica membranes with water fluxes of 47.6 (0.3 wt.%) and 31.5 (3.5 wt.%) kg m − 2 h − 1 at 60 °C, respectively, though with reduced salt rejections of 90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonised template silica membranes were synthesised and investigated for water desalination for brackish (0.3 wt%), sea water (3.5 wt%) and brine (7.5 wt%) NaCl solutions at temperatures range from 22 to 60 °C. The membranes were prepared by a two-step base catalysed sol–gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate TEOS as the silica precursor and triblock copolymer of Pluronic ® P123 as the templating agent. The P123 silica membranes calcined under vacuum only produced high quality membranes by the interlayer-free method. The membranes were stable during testing of up to 250 h under different thermal and salt concentration solutions, always delivering very high salt rejections >99.5%. It was found that by increasing the template concentration in the silica matrix from 5 to 50 wt%, salt concentration polarisation was greatly reduced. As such, high water fluxes were measured up to 8.5 kg m −2 h −1 for brackish water and 6.6 kg m −2 h −1 for brine water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland water is an alternative water resource around wetland areas. However, it is typically saline due to seawater intrusion and contains high natural organic matter (NOM) that is challenging to treat. This study evaluated the stability of interlayer-free mesoporous silica matrix membranes employing a dual acid–base catalyzed sol–gel process for treatment of saline wetland water. The silica sols were prepared under a low silanol concentration, dip-coated in 4 layers, and calcined using the rapid thermal processing method. The membrane performance was initially evaluated through pervaporation under various temperatures (25–60 °C) using various feeds. Next, the long-term stability (up to 400 h) of wetland saline water desalination was evaluated. Results show that the water flux increased at higher temperatures up to 6.9 and 6.5 kg·m−2·h−1 at the highest temperature of 60 °C for the seawater and the wetland saline water feeds, respectively. The long-term stability demonstrated a stable performance without flux and rejection decline up to 170 h operation, beyond which slow declines in water flux and rejection were observed due to fouling by NOM and membrane wetting. The overall findings suggest that an interlayer-free mesoporous silica membrane offers excellent performance and high salt rejection (80–99%) for wetland saline water treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work shows the preparation of silica membranes by a two-step sol-gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate in ethanolic solution by employing nitric acid and ammonia as co-catalysts. The sols prepared in pH 6 resulted in the lowest concentration of silanol (Si-OH) species to improve hydrostability and the optimized conditions for film coating. The membrane was tested to desalinate 0.3-15 wt % synthetic sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions at a feed temperature of 22 °C followed by long term membrane performance of up to 250 h in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution. Results show that the water flux (and salt rejection) decrease with increasing salt concentration delivering an average value of 9.5 kg m-2 h-1 (99.6%) and 1.55 kg m-2 h-1 (89.2%) from the 0.3 and 15 wt % saline feed solutions, respectively. Furthermore, the permeate salt concentration was measured to be less than 600 ppm for testing conditions up to 5 wt % saline feed solutions, achieving below the recommended standard for potable water. Long term stability shows that the membrane performance in water flux was stable for up to 150 h, and slightly reduced from thereon, possibly due to the blockage of large hydrated ions in the micropore constrictions of the silica matrix. However, the integrity of the silica matrix was not affected by the long term testing as excellent salt rejection of >99% was maintained for over 250 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A membrane adsorbent was successfully made from palm empty fruit bunches (PEFB), which was pyrolysed as physical activation. The effect of adding the impact of one-step catalyst (hydrochloric acid) and differences in the concentration on the characteristics and structure and deconvolution are investigated in this study. The results of the research have been successfully created and characterised using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) isotherm, and membrane morphology using SEM test. Membrane performance testing was carried out using a biogas flame test. The adsorber membrane was made by adding NH4Cl as a cationic surfactant, polyvinyl acetate (PVA), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) with a ratio of 1:3. The FTIR test has a functional group: O-H; C-H stretch; C=C-C; Arly O-Strech; C-O. Adsorbent membrane with the addition of 0.5 M HCl catalyst had the highest ratio of O-H/C=C-C relative area of 4.33. The diffractogram shows an amorphous structure with (002) and (100) graph planes. Adsorber membrane with a concentration of 1.5 M HCl has formed amorphous structured fibre. The adsorber membrane with a concentration of 0.5 HCl activator gave a surface area of 0.5345 m2 g−1 and a pore volume of 0.000983 cm3 g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physicochemical properties of organo-silica xerogels derived from organo catalyst were pervasively investigated, including the effect of one-step catalyst (citric acid) and two-step catalyst (acid-base), and also to observe the effect of sol pH of organo-silica xerogel toward the structure and deconvolution characteristic. The organo-silica xerogels were characterized by FTIR, TGA and nitrogen sorption to obtain the physicochemical properties. The silica sol–gel method was applied to processed materials by employing TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) as the main precursor. The final molar ratio of organo-silica was 1:38:x:y:5 (TEOS:ethanol: citric acid: NH3:H2O) where x is citric acid concentration (0.1–10 × 10−2 M) and y is ammonia concentration (0 to 3 × 10−3 M). FTIR spectra shows that the one-step catalyst xerogel using citric acid was handing over the higher Si-O-Si concentration as well as Si-C bonding than the dual catalyst xerogels with the presence of a base catalyst. The results exhibited that the highest relative area ratio of silanol/siloxane were 0.2972 and 0.1262 for organo catalyst loading at pH 6 and 6.5 of organo-silica sols, respectively. On the other hand, the organo-silica matrices in this work showed high surface area 546 m2 g−1 pH 6.5 (0.07 × 10−2 N citric acid) with pore size ~2.9 nm. It is concluded that the xerogels have mesoporous structures, which are effective for further application to separate NaCl in water desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is still a pressing issue in many regions. The application of membrane technology through water desalination to convert brackish to potable water is a promising technology to solve this issue. This study compared the performance of templated TEOS-P123 and ES40-P123 hybrid membranes for brackish water desalination. The membranes were prepared by the sol–gel method by employing tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) for the carbon-templated silica (soft template) and ethyl silicate (ES40) for the hybrid organo-silica. Both sols were templated by adding 35 wt.% of pluronic triblock copolymer (P123) as the carbon source. The silica-templated sols were dip-coated onto alumina support (four layers) and were calcined by using the RTP (rapid thermal processing) method. The prepared membranes were tested using pervaporation set up at room temperature (~25 °C) using brackish water (0.3 and 1 wt.%) as the feed. It was found that the hybrid membrane exhibited the highest specific surface area (6.72 m2·g−1), pore size (3.67 nm), and pore volume (0.45 cm3·g−1). The hybrid ES40-P123 was twice thicker (2 μm) than TEOS-P123-templated membranes (1 μm). Lastly, the hybrid ES40-P123 displayed highest water flux of 6.2 kg·m−2·h−1. Both membranes showed excellent robustness and salt rejections of >99%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction and modification of a Graphene Oxide (GO) membrane, incorporating polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cross-linked with maleic acid (MA) and supported by a nylon membrane, have been successfully completed. Systematic variations in PVA and MA concentrations were conducted to achieve membranes with favorable characteristics, stability, and excellent desalination performance. Optimization studies utilizing the Central Composite Design (CCD) revealed that the most optimal desalination results were obtained with 10 mL of PVA (0.1 mg mL−1) and 0.9 M of MA (GO-MA 0.9 -PVA 10 /Nylon membrane). Experimental findings demonstrated that the inclusion of PVA and MA resulted in an increased interlayer distance of GO and enhanced membrane stability. The addition of PVA increases GO membrane hydrophilicity, while the addition of MA reduces membrane hydrophilicity. The GO-MA 0.9 -PVA 10 /Nylon membrane exhibited the highest desalination performance, boasting a rejection value exceeding >99.9% and a permeance of 18.76 kg m−2.h−1 under 1% NaCl feed at a temperature of 50 °C. This membrane demonstrated consistent desalination performance stability over an extended period of up to 70 h. Moreover, it exhibited durability through 8 cycles of 24-h usage with washing treatment. In conclusion, the GO-MA 0.9 -PVA 10 /Nylon membrane is strongly recommended for practical applications, outperforming other membrane options based on the comprehensive evaluation of its stability and desalination efficiency. [Display omitted] • Polyvinyl alcohol intercalated graphene oxide membrane crosslinked maleic acid was successfully prepared. • The membrane composition (PVA and MA) is adjusted using CCD. • The addition of PVA and MA increases the stability and desalination ability. • GO-MA 0.9 -PVA 10 /Nylon membrane showed the best desalination results (rejection >99% and permeance 18.76 kg m−2.h−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen (H 2) permeance across silica-based membranes increases with temperature, but carbon dioxide (CO 2) permeance decreases. Because of the opposite signs of activation energies for H 2 and CO 2 permeation, silica-based membranes are widely used in separating H 2 and CO 2 at high temperatures due to the elevated difference between H 2 and CO 2 permeabilities. However, there has not been an explanation of the diverging permeance between H 2 and CO 2 with temperature. This study developed a gas permeation model encompassing gas penetration through silica matrix, Knudsen diffusion, and viscous flow. An Oscillator model with an effective medium approach was used to screen all possible pore size distributions and calculate the gas penetration through the silica matrix. However, no pore size distribution could allow positive activation energy for hydrogen and negative activation energy for carbon dioxide at the same time. After including Knudsen diffusion and viscous flow, the diverging permeance between H 2 and CO 2 with temperature was successfully interpreted. The pore size distribution and the fractional contribution from Knudsen diffusion and viscous flow, which could best fit experimental activation energies for H 2 and CO 2 permeation, were identified. In the silica matrix that formed the membranes, 5-membered rings were the dominant structures in pores, which was responsible for the positive apparent activation energy for H 2. The negative CO 2 apparent activation energy indicated that it was inevitable to have some Knudsen diffusion and viscous flow through some imperfections of the membrane. Our model demonstrated the importance of high-temperature gas separation, as high temperature could minimize the undesirable gas flow through imperfections. This study also implied that further improvement of H 2 /CO 2 separation by silica-based membranes could be achieved by reducing imperfections. [Display omitted] • High-temperature H 2 separation benefits from the diverging E a between H 2 and CO 2. • The opposite E a signs of H 2 and CO 2 permeation across the SiO 2 membrane were interpreted. • A probable pore size distribution of amorphous Si nano-pore matrix was identified. • The negative CO 2 E a value implies the contribution from Knudsen and viscous flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane filtration exhibits excellent separation performance for water and wastewater treatment but is still limited by the membrane fouling. This study presents a novel membrane rotating biological contactor (MRBC) that combines a conventional rotating biological contactor (RBC) with membrane filtration. MRBC combines conventional RBC with the membrane filtration placed in between two adjacent rotating disks to offer inherent control over membrane fouling. The disks rotations provide some degree of foulant removal, maintain membrane permeability, and potentially save a substantial amount of energy. The biological and hydraulic performance of MRBC was compared with a series of RBC and external membrane filtration (RBC + ME) where the membrane is treated as a post-treatment unit. Results show that the MRBC enhances not only the biological performance but also offers advantages for inherent membrane fouling control through the rotation of the disk. Membrane fouling control primarily originates from the enhanced shear rate from higher disk rotation and minimum membrane-to-disk gap. The hydraulic performance is 92.4% higher than literature, which further enhanced at smaller membrane-to-disk gaps and higher disk rotations. The highest steady-state permeability of 297 L/(m2.h.bar) and 288 L/(m2.h.bar) results at 40 rpm disk rotational speed and 0.5 cm membrane-to-disk gap, respectively. A projected full-scale MRBC consumes 0.18 kWh/m3 permeate, one-fourth of the energy for the referenced MBR system thanks to the active role of disks rotation for membrane fouling control which eliminates the need of extensive aeration like in the traditional MBRs. MRBC offers a promising alternative for traditional wastewater treatment as a low energy foot-print process, which is in line with the requirements of sustainable development and promotes the development of cleaner production. Image 1 • The proof of concept of membrane rotating biological contactor (MRBC) is reported. • It utilizes the disk rotations to dissolve oxygen and to control membrane fouling. • High rotation speeds and small gaps offer high permeability of up to 297 L/(m2.h.bar). • The energy consumption of the MRBC is merely 0.18 kWh/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]