Photocatalytic GO/M88A “interceptor plate” assembled nanofibrous membrane with photo-Fenton self-cleaning performance for oil/water emulsion separation

Abstract

Developing the high-efficient and robust antifouling membranes for oily emulsions to achieve the purpose of prolonging the service life of the membrane shows great demand because of the restriction of hydration anti-fouling mechanism strategy to against pollution. Herein, a hydrophilic photo-Fenton-like catalyst – GO/Fe-MOF assembled stabilized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) nanofibrous membrane with underwater superoleophobicity, robust mechanical strength and photo-Fenton self-cleaning performance was firstly designed and fabricated via ultrasonic assistance, mussel-inspired fixation and low temperature hydrothermal synthesis methods. In this work, benefiting by the regulable amounts of GO nanosheets on the SPAN@GO/M88A membrane surface, the obtained membrane possessed sub-micrometer skin layer, which guarantees the balance of fast permeation flux (920–7083 ± 47 L m−2 h−1) and separation efficiency (>99.2%) for diesel/water emulsion with small emulsified oils. Moreover, introduced hydrophilic Metal-organic frame nanoparticles (MIL-88A (Fe)) into modified membrane endowed underwater anti-oil-fouling and photo-Fenton catalytic degradation performance for organic contaminants. Meanwhile, the charged GO/M88A heterostructure can assist to achieve demulsification for separation of surfactant-stabilized emulsions by strong electrostatic force. More importantly, attached and irremovable contaminants on the membrane can be quickly removed by photo-Fenton self-cleaning method, and achieved over 96% of recovery flux recovery ratio, which effectively prolonged the service life of the membrane. We believe the newly designed SPAN@GO/M88A membrane with hydration antifouling and photo-Fenton self-cleaning properties can stimulate more studies on revivable separation membranes for multifunctional applications.