Self assembled PP membrane with photocatalytic self-cleaning performance for efficient oil/water emulsion separation

In this study, a super-hydrophobic self-cleaning fluorinated Zr-MOF nano-hybrid membrane (TF-DUT-52/PP) was developed by in-situ growth of modified MOF onto polypropylene membrane. DUT-52 is a new zirconium-based MOF with face-centered cubic topology and bearing stiffness. The hydrophobic group-trifluoroacetamide group is introduced into its monomer, which makes the final prepared membrane have excellent high porosity, durability and superhydrophobicity, and is an attractive oil-water separation membrane. The separation efficiency of the membrane for three different oil-water emulsion is more than 98%, and the separation flux is also very high (more than 500 Lm2h-1bar-1). In addition, due to the Zr metal on the TF-DUT-52 node on the membrane surface, the membrane has good photocatalytic self-cleaning performance. Under ultraviolet light irradiation, it has high photocatalytic activity for organic pollutants on the membrane surface (the degradation efficiency is more than 85%). Therefore, in the foreseeable future, TF-DUT-52/PP membrane, as an anti-fouling membrane of a new generation of super hydrophobic/ super lipophilic materials, has high throughput and stability, and provides a new idea for the removal of oily wastewater.