Preparation anti-fouling Janus membranes with self-cleaning capability for membrane distillation

In recent years, Janus membranes have gained increasing attention for their application in membrane distillation (MD) technology. In this study, PVDF composite membranes doped with varying concentrations of MnO 2 nanoparticles were fabricated as support layers using the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Subsequently, a polyamide (PA) layer was deposited on the membrane surface via reverse interfacial polymerization (RIP), resulting in the formation of Janus membranes with catalytic self-cleaning capabilities. As the MnO 2 content increased, the permeation flux of the pristine PVDF composite membranes gradually decreased from 31.3 ± 1.2 LMH to 28.3 ± 1.9 LMH and further to 22.7 ± 0.6 LMH. Nevertheless, the incorporation of the hydrophilic PA layer significantly enhanced the permeation performance, with the flux increasing to 34.9 ± 1.2 LMH, 30.9 ± 0.5 LMH, and 26.2 ± 0.5 LMH, respectively. Additionally, the Janus membrane exhibited excellent wetting and fouling resistance in environments with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and calcium sulfate scale. The catalytic self-cleaning functionality enables the membrane to be repeatedly utilized in cyclic operations. These findings suggest that the Janus membrane holds significant promise for practical applications in membrane distillation processes.