In this study, hollow fiber PVC/ZnO-nanocomposite in an MBR was investigated for municipal wastewater
treatment. The following parameter were evaluated: BOD, COD, TSS, NTU, TP, TKN. ZnO nanoparticles caused to
decrease the contact angle from 78◦ to 67◦ for the neat PVC and 0.5 wt% ZNO-nanocomposite membrane,
respectively. The majority of the neat membrane resistance was due to irreversible resistance. Because of the
antibacterial properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles, with increasing nanoparticles loading, the resistance of
irreversible part compared to the reversible resistance experienced a significant decrease. This confirm that the
fabricated nanocomposite membranes did not show affinity toward adsorption of the sludge inside the pores
hence substantially limited the membrane fouling. The FTIR results showed the reduction of proteins and
polysaccharides onto the surface of the nanoparticle-incorporated membranes, approaching the clean PVC
membrane. This was most likely due to the antibacterial properties of ZnO NPs. Nitrogen and phosphor removal
for PVC0.5 membrane was 99% and 79% and TSS removal up to 100% was achieved. The findings of this study
showed that modification of PVC polymer using ZnO nanoparticles with the presence of ferric chloride coagulant
is a very effective technique for municipal wastewater treatment to meet the well-known standard levels.