ZIF-67 derived nanofibrous catalytic membranes for ultrafast removal of antibiotics under flow-through filtration via non-radical dominated pathway

Abstract

Abstract Catalytic membranes as heterogeneous reactors are appealing for treating persistent pollutants. The spatial confinement based on common traditional lamellar or vertical channels is limited to a tradeoff between permeability and catalytic efficacy. Herein, we demonstrate catalytic membranes with heterogeneous catalytic interface for ultrafast removal of contaminants via non-radical dominated pathway under flow-through filtration. We prepare CoxOy@carbon catalytic nanofibrous membrane (CoxOy@CCNM) by enabling the in-situ growth and pyrolysis of ZIF-67 on the nanofibers, which provides instantaneous, robust and persistent degradation of antibiotic molecules e.g. tetracycline (TC), ciprofloxacin (CIP) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) via a flow-through filtration under gravity. The designed catalytic interfaces efficiently activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to produce dominant singlet oxygen. The interface catalytic mechanism was comprehensively investigated from interface electron transfer, interface ROS activation, and interface pollutant adsorption. Our work reveals the prominent importance of active interface for rationally designing novel catalytic membranes for environmental remediation.