Removal
of organic pollutants from
industrial wastewater is of significant importance in
wastewater treatment. Here, we present a highly efficient composite
membrane composed of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) embedded with mesoporous
polydopamine (mPDA) and decorated with palladium (Pd) nanoparticles.
The Pd-mPDA-BNC membrane is synthesized through simple and scalable
process involving the in situ incorporation of mPDA
nanoparticles into BNC matrix during its bacteria-mediated growth
followed by in situ growth of Pd nanoparticles. The
Pd-mPDA-BNC membrane exhibited high efficiency (above 99%) in removing
cationic, anionic, and neutral dyes over a wide range of concentrations,
and pH, and over multiple cycles of reuse. The synergistic effect
of adsorption on mPDA nanoparticles and catalytic degradation by Pd
nanoparticles enabled the simultaneous removal of multiple contaminants
through a simple membrane filtration process. Furthermore, the Pd-mPDA-BNC
membranes exhibited significantly higher water flux compared to commercially
available ultrafiltration membranes with the same range of pore size,
making them highly attractive for wastewater treatment.