Severe surface fouling of nanofiltration (NF) has hindered
its
practical implementation in treating dye-containing wastewater from
the textile industry. To address this fouling issue, a novel thin-film
nanocomposite NF membrane (TFNx) was proposed by
embedding catalytic manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoparticles
within polyamide (PA) rejection layer to realize in situ Fenton-like
advanced oxidation self-cleaning. The incorporation of MnO2 nanoparticles was validated to moderately reduce the degree of cross-linking
of the PA layer, thereby obtaining an enhanced surface hydrophilicity.
The inclusion of MnO2 nanoparticles increased the surface
hydrophilicity, resulting in a higher water permeance (TFN10 18.1
± 0.7 L m–2 h–1 bar–1) that was 57.4% higher than that of the control thin film nanocomposite
(TFC) membrane, while a high dye rejection was maintained. In addition,
the presence of catalytically capable MnO2 nanoparticles
in the Fenton-like reaction led to membrane self-cleaning and demonstrated
a better antifouling behavior. The generation of free radicals was
triggered by the addition of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Furthermore,
the impacts of operational conditions on membrane self-cleaning performance
and operation stability were comprehensively investigated.