Simultaneous removal of phosphorus and soluble organic pollutants by a novel organic/inorganic nanocomposite membrane via Zr(OH)₄ in-situ decoration

Background: Excessive phosphorus is the primary nutrient causing water eutrophication. It is of major practical significance to remove pollutants by membrane filtration while adsorbing phosphorus. Methods: In this study, Zr(OH)₄-PVDF organic/inorganic nanocomposite membrane was formed by in-situ formation of Zr(OH)₄ nanoparticles from ZrOCl₂ precursor by sodium hydroxide solution during non solvent induced phase separation process. Significant Findings: The Zr doping in the in-situ grown films is more uniform, and phosphate could be selectively and quickly adsorbed after the decoration of zirconium, and good adsorption capacity was realized as high as 58.67 mg g⁻¹. At the same time, this Zr(OH)₄ decorated composite membrane had excellent filtration performance, which could effectively remove organic pollutants, such as dyes. This novel organic/inorganic nanocomposite membrane with Zr(OH)₄ nanoparticles in-situ decoration exhibited high adsorption capacity, fast adsorption kinetics and good repeatability, and some water soluble pollutants such as dyes could be filtered successfully. All these could provide a promising new strategy for the in-situ fabrication of organic/inorganic nanocomposite membrane and a new direction for the design of efficient phosphorus removal filter membrane with excellent adsorption performance.