In-Situ H2O2 Cleaning for Fouling Control of Manganese-Doped Ceramic Membrane through Confined Catalytic Oxidation Inside Membrane

This work presents an effective approach for manganese-doped Al₂O₃ ceramic membrane (Mn-doped membrane) fouling control by in-situ confined H₂O₂ cleaning in wastewater treatment. An Mn-doped membrane with 0.7 atomic percent Mn doping in the membrane layer was used in a membrane bioreactor with the aim to improve the catalytic activity toward oxidation of foulants by H₂O₂. Backwashing with 1 mM H₂O₂ solution at a flux of 120 L/m²/h (LMH) for 1 min was determined to be the optimal mode for in-situ H₂O₂ cleaning, with confined H₂O₂ decomposition inside the membrane. The Mn-doped membrane with in-situ H₂O₂ cleaning demonstrated much better fouling mitigation efficiency than a pristine Al₂O₃ ceramic membrane (pristine membrane). With in-situ H₂O₂ cleaning, the transmembrane pressure increase (ΔTMP) of the Mn-doped membrane was 22.2 kPa after 24-h filtration, which was 40.5% lower than that of the pristine membrane (37.3 kPa). The enhanced fouling mitigation was attributed to Mn doping, in the Mn-doped membrane layer, that improved the membrane surface properties and confined the catalytic oxidation of foulants by H₂O₂ inside the membrane. Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ redox couples in the Mn-doped membrane catalyzed H₂O₂ decomposition continuously to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) (i.e., HO• and O₂¹), which were likely to be confined in membrane pores and efficiently degraded organic foulants.