2D/2D nanohybrid of Ti3C2 MXene/WO3 photocatalytic membranes for efficient water purification

Abstract Photocatalytic membrane is attracting a great deal of current attention for water decontamination by taking the full advantage of photocatalysis and membrane separation. Herein, the well-defined WO3 nanoplates are homogeneously dispersed onto the surface of multilayer Ti3C2 MXene to create a novel 2D/2D nanohybrid with various Ti3C2 contents (3–7 wt%) through a facile and cost-effective approach, and then photocatalytic membrane system is developed by anchoring these heterostructured-photocatalysts on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane by means of vacuum filtration. Ti3C2/WO3/PVDF photocatalytic membranes exhibit enhanced RhB degradation and cyclability, alongside with refreshing behavior under visible-light illumination. We demonstrate that the excellent electrical conductivity of Ti3C2, the formation of built-in electric field and the large interface contact area between Ti3C2 and WO3 synergetically promote the spatial charge separation and increase the surface reactive sites, which is responsible for boosting the photoreactivity and photostability. Besides, a significant high flux recovery of ∼ 94% is obtained by 5 wt% Ti3C2/WO3/PVDF membrane under visible light irradiation. This study opens possibilities to construct multi-functional and robust MXenes-based photocatalytic membrane for long-term water purification.