Nature-Inspired Photoactive Metal–Organic Framework Nanofiber Filters for Oil–Water Separation: Conserving Successive Flux, Rejection, and Antifouling

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and industrialization have significantly added to the complexity of wastewater treatment, particularly due to the presence of nonsegregated organic and aqueous phases, and hence, technology to remove such mixed-phase pollutants is essential. A photocatalytic iron-based metal–organic framework possessing a band gap of 2.18 eV and a very high surface area of ∼1400 m2 g–1 was embedded into poly(acrylonitrile) nanofibers for oil/water separation and degradation of dye contaminants. The synthesized nanofibers were schemed to mimic two different morphologies (spider silk and desert beetle morphology) via electrospinning for rendering both hydrophilic and hydrophobic pockets. Excellent flux was achieved and the good antifouling ability of these iron-based metal–organic framework nanofiber membranes, together with the advantage of Fe–O clusters that help in the removal of oil (by adsorption) and dyes beyond 90% via photo-Fenton-like reaction, is successfully demonstrated, scientifically reasoned, and justified with the help of characterization techniques, thus showing the promises of using these membranes for real-time applications.

Synergy of Ligands in Tailoring the Photocatalytic Properties of Zirconium Metal–Organic Framework-Impregnated Membranes for Water Treatment

“…The antifouling metrics, including the flux recovery ratio (FRR), total fouling ratio ( R t ), reversible fouling ratio ( R r ), and irreversible fouling ratio ( R ir ), were also estimated. The calculation details for these metrics are provided in Section S7 in the Supporting Information …”