Aminopropyl functionalized iron-phyllosilicate (AIP) engineered composite membrane for hazardous emerging pollutant treatment

Catalytic degradation of organic foulants using cost-effective and light-independent catalyst in membrane system is a promising technology in advancing the self-cleaning membranes. In this work, we report AIP-clay as an efficient light-independent catalyst in membrane system to degrade the organic foulants. The characterization of AIP-clay and membrane was performed using FE-SEM, ATR-IR, DLS, XPS, AFM, zeta potential, and contact angle measurements. The optimised AIP-clay loaded membrane (0.1AIP-PAN) showed an efficient Fenton-based insitu degradation of fouled dyes and SWW both in dark and light condition. Although, membrane exhibited significant self-cleaning capabilities in presence of light, the efficiency was nearly equivalent in dark condition as well, indicating minimal disparity in performance. The membranes remained stable even after multiple cycles of self-cleaning, with no notable loss in flux or rejection ability. The 0.1AIP-PAN membrane performance was further assessed based on the removal capacity of various salts (18% of NaCl and 38% of MgSO4), dyes (MB, MG, CR, EBT and RBr), SWW (>90%) and pharmaceuticals (>80%). In addition, the AIP-clay loaded membrane was studied for its anti-fouling property via long-term study for SWW with 97.7% FRR while retaining the membrane stability even after 216 h. Therefore, these studies demonstrate the potential self-cleaning in both dark and light, long-term stability and high separation performance of the AIP-clay membranes for diverse applications.