Designing durable self-cleaning nanofiltration membranes via sol-gel assisted interfacial polymerization for textile wastewater treatment

• Published in: Separation and purification technology Vol. 289; p. 120752
• Main Authors: Yan, Xiang-Yu, Wang, Qian, Wang, Yue, Fu, Zheng-Jun, Wang, Zhen-Yuan, Mamba, Bhekie, Sun, Shi-Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.05.2022
• Subjects: Interfacial polymerization (IP); Nanofiltration; Photocatalytic self-cleaning; Textile wastewater treatment; Thin film nanocomposite (TFN); Nanofiltration; Textile wastewater treatment; Photocatalytic self-cleaning; Thin film nanocomposite (TFN); Interfacial polymerization (IP)
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2022.120752

[Display omitted] •A photocatalytic membrane was constructed by sol-gel assisted IP technique.•Customized pore size and enhanced electronegativity conduce to precise separation.•TiO2-based membranes own superior property of self-cleaning and durability.•Diafiltration model was utilized to examine the durability of membrane. Nanofiltration (NF) membranes with fast and precise separation performance and self-cleaning capabilities are desired for the treatment of textile wastewater. However, a decline in performance caused by membrane fouling severely limits the applications of NF membranes. Meanwhile, the dense selective layer fabricated by traditional interfacial polymerization (IP) weakens the ability of precise molecular separation. In this work, we report a novel sol–gel assisted interfacial polymerization (SGIP) technique involving an interfacial polymerization reaction and simultaneous generation of titanium dioxide (TiO2). This approach can tune the performance and morphology of the NF membranes and endow membranes with self-cleaning properties. The synthesized membrane achieved a high water permeability (18.76 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) without sacrificial rejection of Na2SO4. The membrane also has good photocatalytic properties and is stable during eight fouling-irradiation cycles. This work provides distinctive insights into the preparation of a self-cleaning thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane for selective separation in the field of wastewater treatment and resource recovery.