Recent progress on fabrication and application of electrospun nanofibrous photocatalytic membranes for wastewater treatment: A review

Abstract

Presently, photocatalytic degradation has emerged as an attractive and efficient technology for water and wastewater treatment. Many photocatalysts have been introduced and applied to treat organic pollutants in an aqueous system such as dyes, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and oily wastes. However, several hurdles, such as difficulty in the suspended photocatalyst segregation from the aqueous system and low reutilization rate, urgently need to be addressed for photocatalytic degradation to be independently implemented in wastewater treatment. The suspended photocatalyst in wastewater needs to be separated to enable the recovery of the spent photocatalyst efficiently. The spent photocatalyst can be regenerated and reused to reduce the operational cost. Therefore, extensive studies have been carried out, targeting photocatalyst immobilization in the nanofibrous membrane to promote the photocatalyst's practical usage in natural wastewater treatment. This review aims to comprehensively discuss the recent progress of the developed nanofibrous photocatalytic membrane, emphasizing advancements in physical and morphological structure towards exhibiting high performance in wastewater treatment. Performance evaluation, challenges, and future directions regarding the utilization of electrospun nanofibrous photocatalytic membranes in wastewater treatment are comprehensively reviewed.