Development of polyacrylonitrile/perovskite catalytic membrane with abundant channel-assisted reaction sites for organic pollutant removal

Catalytic membrane that can simultaneously enable physical separation and advanced oxidation process is considered as a novel approach for wastewater remediation; however, the unsatisfied catalytic performance and instability impede its further application. In this study, Fe doped LaCoO 3 perovskite with tunable electron structure was employed as a heterogeneous catalyst and incorporated with Polyacrylonitrile ultrafiltration membrane via a controlled phase inversion method. Owing to the continuous outflow of the intermediates and enriched concentration gradients in membrane channels, the catalytic membrane exhibited exceptional catalytic performance and stability under cross-flow apparatus. Correspondingly, over 99% of tetracycline hydrochloride can be degraded via activating peroxymonosulfate in 36 min under the flux of 220 L/m 2 h. Besides, the catalytic membrane with suitable pore size could exclude natural organic matter and selectively assist the degradation of pollutants in membrane channels due to a massive generation of sulfate radicals and singlet oxygen (equivalent to a retention time of 1.64 s). Following this, the degradation pathways and toxicity analysis of the intermediates were investigated to further verify the catalysis mechanism and the reduced toxicity of treated solution. Overall, it can be concluded that the integration of membrane and catalytic oxidation is effective for enhancing wastewater purification efficiency.