Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are among the most important categories of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), and many advanced technologies have been developed for their elimination from water and wastewater, including nano-zero valent iron (nZVI). This study investigates the performance of nZVI synthesized from green tea extracts and incorporated into a cationic resin (R-nFe) in the removal of four selected NSAIDs, namely ibuprofen (IBU), naproxen (NPX), diclofenac (DCF), and ketoprofen (KFN), and an EDC, namely bisphenol A (BPA). Column experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of various operating parameters, including initial CECs concentration, contact time, pH, addition, and dose of sodium persulfate (PS). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that environmentally friendly produced nZVI has been combined with PS in column experiments for the removal of CECs from wastewater. With a contact time of 2.2 min, PS = 1 mM, and influent pH = 3.5, 27–72% of IBU, 70–99% of NPX, 70–95% of DCF, 28–50% of KFN, and 61–91% of BPA were removed during a 12-day operation of the system, while the initial concentration of each substance was 5 μg/L. Therefore, it is anticipated that the proposed system could be a promising post-treatment technology for the removal of CECs from wastewater.

Nano zerovalent iron (nZVI), produced from green tea extracts, was incorporated in a cation exchange resin (R-nFe) to investigate its performance regarding the removal of four non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): ibuprofen (IBU), naproxen (NPX), ketoprofen (KTP) and diclofenac (DCF). The effect of contact time, NaCl pretreatment, pH, R-nFe dose, the role of the supporting material, the initial concentration of pollutants, and the combined effect of nZVI with oxidative reagents was assessed through a series of batch experiments. According to the results, the best removal efficiencies obtained for DCF and KTP were 86% and 73%, respectively, at 48 h of contact time with NaCl pretreated R-nFe at a dose of 15 g L⁻¹ and a pH of 4. The maximum removal efficiency for NPX was 90% for a contact time of 60 min with PS 1 mM and a pH of 3, which was quite similar to the experiment with a greater contact time of 48 h without PS addition. The maximum IBU removal was 70%; this was reached at pH 3, with a contact time of 30 min and R-nFe 15 g L⁻¹. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study investigating the utilization of nZVI, produced from leaf extracts and incorporated into a cationic exchange resin, to remove NSAIDs from water.

The performance of a laboratory-scale 40 L anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) treating municipal wastewater with and without iron supplementation was evaluated at ambient temperatures at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 h and sludge retention time (SRT) of 50 days. The system exhibited satisfactory performance during the summer and winter periods with average COD removal efficiencies of 73 ± 4% and 60 ± 4%, respectively. Moreover, two different FeCl₃ dosages were studied for optimizing operation in terms of organic load removal, phosphorus removal, biogas production, membrane fouling, and emerging contaminant removal. The addition of 25 mg FeCl₃ L⁻¹ improved the performance of the AnMBR. More specifically, average effluent COD concentrations without FeCl₃ addition were 177 ± 21 mg/L, while after the addition of 25 mg FeCl₃ L⁻¹ and 30 mg FeCl₃ L⁻¹, COD decreased to 147 ± 8 mg/L and 149 ± 11 mg/L, respectively. Moreover, effluent TP decreased by 75% with the dosage of 25 mg FeCl₃ L⁻¹ and was almost completely removed with 30 mg FeCl₃ L⁻¹. The membrane performance was slightly improved by FeCl₃ dosing while biogas production was not affected by iron addition. AnMBR appeared inadequate for the removal of almost all the selected micropollutants, and the effect of iron addition on micropollutant removal was very limited.