Photo-Fenton self-cleaning PVDF/NH₂-MIL-88B(Fe) membranes towards highly-efficient oil/water emulsion separation

Membrane fouling is one of the major blockages toward the further sustained development of membrane technology. In this work, PVDF/NH₂-MIL-88B(Fe) (PVDF/NM88B) membranes were prepared for the first time via one-step simple non-solvent induced phase conversion method. The PVDF/NM88B membrane shows an excellent separation performance (above 99.4%) and permeation flux (340–1970 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹) towards different oil/water emulsions. Moreover, PVDF/NM88B membrane exhibits excellent antifouling performance with flux recovery ratio of almost 100% attributing to hydrophilicity and high photo-Fenton activity of NM88B. In addition, the membrane with good mechanical properties and recyclability shows great application potential in wastewater treatment. This work may shine a new light on the promising photo-Fenton self-cleaning prospect of Fe-based MOFs in constructing antifouling membranes for wastewater remediation and potential applications.