“Catch-and-feed”: Janus catalytic flow-through membrane enables highly efficient removal of micropollutants in water

Abstract

Micropollutants, due to their low concentrations, exceptional chemical stability, and profound toxicity, present a significant challenge in water treatment. While electrocatalysis and photocatalysis have shown promise as potential water purification techniques, their inherent limitations in mass transfer often result in elevated energy requirements and suboptimal efficiency. In this study, a Janus catalytic flow-through membrane (JCFM) was utilized to successfully remove two notorious micropollutants dichlorvos (DDVP) and azoxystrobin (AZX) from water based on the "catch-and-feed" strategy. This membrane adopts a "sandwich" configuration, comprising platinum-modified reduced titanium (Pt@rTO) as the electrocatalytic layer, porous titanium (Ti) as the current collector, and rTO as the photocatalytic layer. The JCFM exhibited remarkable performance, maintaining an •OH energy conversion efficiency of up to 20.12 nM and displaying catalytic activity (k_JCFM=6.97 × 10^–4 s^–1) in degrading AZX far superior to that of photocatalysis (k_PC=9.51 × 10^–5 s^–1) or electrocatalysis (k_EC=9.89 × 10^–5 s^–1) alone. It is evidenced that the Pt@rTO layer efficiently generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which, along with the micropollutants, flow through the JCFM (“feed”), which strengthens mass transfer and facilitates efficient reactions within the confined space (“catch”). The ROSs then seep through the rTO layer, where they are reactivated by UV light radiation. The mechanism and the alternative reaction pathway of DDVP and AZX has also been proposed. In sequential testing, the JCFM achieved continuous and energy-efficient removal of micropollutants, exceeding 97.5% over 200 h. The scale-up application of this technology has proven effective in the treatment of secondary biochemical effluent from municipal sewage, coking wastewater, and landfill leachate, achieving the concurrent degradation of various micropollutants.