Preparation and characterization of DA@SA catalytic composite membranes strengthened by two-dimensional MXene nanomaterials

Reasonable design of the separation layer structure in the catalytic composite membrane (CCM) is an effective strategy to improve the performance of catalysis and separation. As for the low permeability and obvious non-selective interface defects of the separation layer, a new nanomaterial MXene (Ti3C2TX) was introduced to enhance the permeability of sodium alginate (SA) polymer matrix membrane and dopamine (DA) acted as the binder to improve the non-selectivity between the filler and the polymer, respectively. The porous catalytic layer was proposed by grafting acid ionic liquids (ILs) onto polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The experimental results showed that the flux of MXene-DA@SA/PAN separation membrane was up to 1640 g∙m−2 h−1, increasing by 70% compared with the pure SA membrane. And the separation factor arrived at 810, increasing by 30.6% compared with the non-dopamine-modified hybrid membrane. Using the developed ILs-g-PVA/MXene-DA@SA/PAN catalytic composite membrane, the conversion rate of acetic acid reached 96.5% within 12 h. This work provides useful enlightenment for improving the efficiency of catalytic reaction by optimizing the separation layer.