• A photocatalytic membrane was fabricated for water purification and it was tested and described. • Synergy between photocatalytic degradation and membrane filtration is explored. • Simple 1D mass transport model describes the dead-end photocatalytic membrane process. • A methylene blue discoloration of 68–23% was reached with the lowest to the highest filtration rate. This study explores the synergy between photocatalytic oxidation and membrane filtration using a photocatalytic membrane. Titanium dioxide coated alumina membranes were fabricated and tested in a customized Photocatalytic Membrane Reactor (PMR) module. The discoloration of methylene blue (MB), 3.2 mg·L −1 in an aqueous solution, was evaluated in dead-end filtration mode. A simple 1D analytic transport and surface reaction model was used based on advection and diffusion, containing intrinsic retention by the membrane and reaction kinetics to predict the permeate concentration. The discoloration of MB by the photocatalytic membrane could be well described by a single retention and reaction rate constant (second Damköhler number) for fluxes from 1.6 to 16.2 L·m −2 ·h −1 . The model furthermore indicates the potential synergy between membrane retention, which leads to increased concentration, and accompanying photocatalytic conversion, at the membrane surface.