1D/2D ZnO nanoneedles/Ti3C2 MXene enrobed PVDF electrospun membrane for effective water purification

To advance the emerging field of wastewater treatment, a novel nanostructure decorated porous electrospun membrane was successfully prepared via a combination of electrospinning, vacuum deposition and hydrothermal techniques. 1D ZnO nanoneedles were uniformly enrobed over Ti3C2 incorporated PVDF electrospun membrane. PVDF/Ti3C2/ZnO membrane displayed superhydrophilicity and stable underwater superoleophobicity with excellent separation performance (∼99%) and reusability. The composite membrane maintained an average flux of about 1585 Lm-2h−1 and 1274 Lm-2h−1 for various types of mixtures and emulsions respectively. The impact of intimate interfacial contact and matched energy level alignment between metallic Ti3C2 MXene and ZnO nanoneedles enhanced the separation and migration of charge carriers. The composite membrane demonstrated an exceptional photocatalytic degradation performance (∼96%) over congo red dye under LED light irradiation which is 2.7 and 7.4 times as that of PVDF/ZnO and PVDF/Ti3C2 membranes respectively. Moreover, the membrane maintained good chemical, thermal and mechanical stability under harsh environments and morphological durability even after many cycles of multi-functional operation; proving it to be an excellent candidate in the domain of water purification. The present study introduces a scalable approach for multi-functional membrane fabrication for water purification.