A photo-Fenton graphene oxide membrane with improved perm-selectivity and self-cleaning ability for efficient dye removal under visible light irradiation

Reactive membranes (RMs) have attracted worldwide attention for wastewater purification and treatment due to their unique characteristics. In this study, through manipulating the band gap of graphene oxide (GO), a photo-Fenton GO membrane with enlarged inner channels, great selectivity and permeability as well as excellent self-cleaning ability was prepared for the first time via vacuum filtration. Notably, increased permeability (~130.0 L m−2·h−1 bar−1) and enhanced dye removal efficiency (≥ 99%) of the GO membrane are observed in the synergistic photo-Fenton/filtration system. Additionally, the GO membrane maintained high flux and superior rejection properties after 10 repetitions, indicating its desirable stability and anti-fouling capabilities in photo-Fenton/filtration systems. The GO membrane can also be used as a photocatalyst and shows great removal efficiency for MB (90.1%) in the photo-Fenton system. Besides, the mechanism of the self-cleaning property of the GO membrane is explored and it is found that the highly reactive •OH and •O2− species contribute to membrane anti-fouling behavior. Based on our results, the GO membrane has potential for use as a self-cleaning membrane for advanced wastewater purification.