Enhancing PPCPs Removal and Membrane Fouling Control of Ultrafiltration Membrane by UiO-66@Fe3O4@UiO-66

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) adsorption and membrane fouling control were realized by a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane loaded with multifunctional metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in this study. During adsorption, the multifunctional MOFs UiO-66@Fe3O4@UiO-66 in the mixed-matrix membrane (MMMs) could adsorb two typical PPCPs, salicylic acid (SA), and dimethyl phthalate (DMP), efficiently. In the membrane catalytic regeneration process, Fe3O4 in UiO-66@Fe3O4@UiO-66 could catalyze H2O2 to generate hydroxyl radicals (HO·), coupling MOFs/PVDF adsorption capacity regeneration and membrane cleaning. The results show that 10%MOFs/PVDF exhibits the highest adsorption efficiency for 0.1 mmol·L-1 SA and DMP under neutral conditions, and the removal rate reached 64.2% and 46.1%, respectively. Additionally, the pure water flux and membrane adsorption capacity of 10%MOFs/PVDF were able to recover about 91.8% and 94.2%, respectively, using 5 mmol·L-1 H2O2. In this research, the main characteristic of MOFs/PVDF is coupling of the membrane adsorption capacity regeneration and membrane fouling control process. This provides new ideas for the removal of PPCPs and the improvement of membrane anti-fouling performance during the deep purification of secondary effluent.