Membrane technology coupled with electrochemical advanced oxidation processes for organic wastewater treatment: Recent advances and future prospects

Organic contaminants in wastewater have become one of the most serious environmental problems due to their toxicity, persistence and being bio-refractory. Many efforts have been made to develop effective technologies for wastewater treatment over the past few decades. In this review, membrane technologies coupled with electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) for wastewater treatment are presented, where membrane materials used in such systems are categorized based on their electrical conductivities. Various EAOPs, including electro-chemical anodic oxidation, electro-catalysis, photoelectro-catalysis, and electro-Fenton integrated with membrane technologies for effective wastewater treatment, are discussed. The coupling systems using the membrane as an electrode are particularly examined. This review also elaborates the existing challenges with membrane technologies coupled with EAOPs for wastewater treatment, and their prospects are provided as well.