High-Efficient Photocatalytic and Fenton Synergetic Degradation of Organic Pollutants by TiO2-Based Self-Cleaning PES Membrane

In this study, we aimed to develop a high-performance, anti-fouling ultrafiltration membrane by integrating photocatalytic and Fenton-like functions into a polymer matrix, in order to address the critical challenge of membrane fouling and achieve simultaneous separation and degradation of organic pollutants. To this end, a novel Fe-VO-TiO2-embedded polyethersulfone (PES) composite membrane was designed and fabricated using a facile phase inversion method. The key innovation lies in the incorporation of Fe-VO-TiO2 nanoparticles containing abundant bulk-phase single-electron-trapped oxygen vacancies, which not only modulate membrane morphology and hydrophilicity but also enable sustained generation of reactive oxygen species for the pollutant degradation under light irradiation and H2O2. The optimized Fe-VO-TiO2-PES-0.04 membrane exhibited a significantly enhanced pure water flux of 222.6 L·m−2·h−1 (2.2 times higher than the pure PES membrane) while maintaining a high bovine serum albumin (BSA) retention of 93% and an improved hydrophilic surface. More importantly, the membrane demonstrated efficient and stable synergistic Photocatalytic-Fenton activity, achieving 82% degradation of norfloxacin (NOR) and retaining 75% efficiency after eight consecutive cycles. A key finding is the membrane’s Photocatalytic-Fenton-assisted self-cleaning capability, with an 80% flux recovery after methylene blue (MB) fouling, which was attributed to in situ reactive oxygen species (·OH) generation (verified by ESR). This work provides a feasible strategy for designing multifunctional membranes with enhanced antifouling performance and extended service life through built-in catalytic self-cleaning.