Sistemas de nanofibras biocidas y fotocatalíticas para el tratamiento terciario de aguas residuales a escala de laboratorio y piloto

Conventional tertiary wastewater treatment processes often fail to ensure the complete removal of pathogenic microorganisms and contaminants of emerging concern, highlighting the need for advanced yet scalable post-treatment solutions. In this work, a modular nanofibre-based system was developed and validated from laboratory to pilot scale, combining two function-specific electrospun materials rather than a single multifunctional medium. A biocidal polyacrylonitrile nanofibre module containing silver was designed for microbial inactivation. In contrast, a photocatalytic poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) nanofibre module loaded with TiO2 was tailored for organic contaminant degradation. At laboratory scale, the PAN/silver nanofibres achieved complete Escherichia coli inactivation, while the PVDF-HFP/TiO2 nanofibres showed photocatalytic degradation efficiencies of 25.6 % for methylene blue and 24.4 % for rhodamine B. The two modules were validated at pilot scale using secondary settler effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant, achieving removal efficiencies of 99 % for Escherichia coli, 57.1 % for methylene blue, and 30.8 % for rhodamine B under realistic operating conditions. By separating structural-functional modules while integrating them at the system level, this study demonstrates the practical feasibility of electrospun nanofibre technologies for tertiary wastewater treatment beyond laboratory conditions, demonstrating a flexible solution for addressing both microbiological and chemical water quality challenges.