Solar-driven Ag@NH2-MIL-125/PAES-CF3-COOH tight reactive hybrid ultrafiltration membranes for high self-cleaning efficiency

Abstract

Efficient utilization of renewable solar energy is attractive in the membrane separation process of water treatment. In this study, a series of tight reactive hybrid ultrafiltration membranes were fabricated by covalently grafting Ag@NH2-MIL-125 nanoclusters on the side chains of a poly(aryl ether sulfone) matrix containing trifluoromethyl and carboxyl groups. Due to the homogeneous introduction of functional nanoreactors with high-efficiency solar photocatalytic degradation ability, the prepared tight hybrid membranes could approach good self-cleaning anti-fouling properties under sunlight irradiation. And the optimal sample exhibited an excellent water flux recovery ratio of 99.1% after irradiated by 10 min simulated sunlight. Additionally, the tight reactive hybrid membranes displayed excellent anti-aging robustness via the use of a fluorine-containing poly matrix, maintaining the stable high pollutant retention rate during the long-term ultrafiltration separation process. This work provided a new strategy to fabricate high-performance solar-driven reactive hybrid membranes for ultrafiltration separation processes.