Photocatalytic Membrane Filtration: Materials, System Optimization, and External Field Enhancement

Photocatalytic membranes hold significant potential for promoting pollutant degradation and reducing membrane fouling in filtration systems. Although extensive research has been conducted on the independent design of photocatalysts or membrane materials to improve their catalytic and filtration performance, the complex structures and interface mechanisms, as well as insufficient light utilization, are still often overlooked, limiting the overall performance improvement of photocatalytic membranes. This work provides an overview of enhancement strategies involving restricted area effects, external fields, such as mechanical, magnetic, thermal, and electrical fields, as well as coupling techniques with advanced oxidation processes (e.g., O₃, Fenton, and persulfate oxidation) for dual enhancement of photocatalysts and membranes. In addition, the synthesis method of photocatalytic membranes and the influence of factors, such as light source type, frequency, and relative position on photocatalytic membrane performance were also studied. Finally, economic feasibility and pollutant removal performance were further evaluated to determine the promising enhancement strategies, paving the way for more efficient and scalable applications of photocatalytic membranes.