In this research, to enhance the efficiency of polyacrylonitrile, iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were added to membrane matrix and M(0,1) (PA/FePAN) membrane was fabricated. To boost the effectiveness, the iron oxide/zirconium oxide composite nanoparticles (Zr©Fe) were added to the superficial polyamide layer to synthesize M(1,0) (Zr©FePA/PAN) membrane. In order to investigate the supplement role of Fe3O4 and Zr©Fe nanoparticles, both nanoparticles were added to PAN substrate and PA superficial layer, respectively, to fabricate M(1,1) (Zr©FePA/FePAN) membrane. The performance of nanocomposite membranes was compared with that of M(0,0) (PA/PAN) raw membrane. The results indicated that the contact angle of M(0,0), M(0,1), M(1,0), and M(1,1) membranes was 38, 32, 28, and 21, respectively. Presence of nanoparticles enhanced the membrane porosity, such that the porosity of M(0,0), M(1,0), M(0,1), and M(1,1) membranes was 24%, 27%, 30%, and 33%, respectively. MWCO for M(0,0), M(0,1), M(1,0), and M(1,1) membranes was 610, 595, 380, and 330 Dalton, respectively. Presence of nanoparticles reduced fouling from 22% for M(0,0) membrane to zero for M(1,1) membrane. Presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and Zr©Fe composite nanoparticles concurrently in both membrane layers eventually caused M(1,1) to have around 23% greater flux and 68% higher efficiency for cephalexin rejection compared to M(0,0). © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
