Photo-Fenton assisted self-cleaning hybrid ultrafiltration membranes with high-efficient flux recovery for wastewater remediation

Membrane fouling problems severely hindered the integrated development of membrane technology. Currently, construction of a fouling-resistance membrane was an everlasting and ubiquitous research focus. In this study, beta-FeOOH nanorods were anchored onto commercial polysulfone (PSF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes surface via in-situ mineralization to fabricate an anti-fouling UF membrane for organic and dyes wastewater treatment. The ion-dipole interaction and pi-cation interaction between Fe3+ and PSF chains guaranteed beta-FeOOH nanorods attaching onto the surface without an intermediate layer. A satisfying flux recovery ratio (93.6% and 94.3%) and a low irreversible fouling ratio (6.4% and 5.9%) for bovine albumin (BSA) and sodium alginate (SA) solutions, respectively, were acquired on account of the photo-Fenton catalytic property and hydrophilicity of nanorods without sacrificing the permeation flux sharply. Importantly, the resultant membrane exhibited a desirable separation performance for various dyes solutions, with high permeation flux (53.6-100.0 L.m(-2).h(-1).bar(-1)) and appropriate rejection rates (60.9-92.6%). This work not only improved the anti-organic fouling performance extensively, but also provided a novel insight to decorate the conventional UF membrane surface straightforward without an intermediate layer.