MXene nanosheet catalytic membranes cut pharmaceutical wastewater treatment costs

Mar 20, 2026

MXene nanosheet-based catalytic membranes efficiently degrade antibiotics in pharmaceutical wastewater while reducing treatment costs by over 30 percent, new study finds.

(Nanowerk News) Researchers at the Institute of Solid State Physics, part of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a series of catalytic membranes built on MXene nanosheets that can break down antibiotics in pharmaceutical wastewater while sharply reducing treatment costs. The work, led by Kong Lingtao, was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and Chemical Engineering Journal.

Key Findings

Membrane-based catalytic oxidation technologies show promise for removing emerging pollutants from water, but several obstacles have slowed adoption at industrial scale. Catalysts tend to leach out of membranes over time, active sites become blocked by fouling, and balancing the competing demands of membrane separation and oxidation kinetics remains difficult. High material costs and complex fabrication processes have further limited large-scale deployment. The team addressed these problems by exploiting the structural tunability of MXene nanosheets, a family of two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides known for their adjustable surface chemistry. They combined MXene with microfiltration membrane fabrication techniques to design multifunctional Fenton-like catalytic membranes. Fenton-like reactions generate highly reactive oxygen species capable of decomposing organic pollutants, making them well suited for degrading stubborn contaminants such as antibiotics. To build the membranes, the researchers used non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS). This method allowed them to disperse metal-based catalysts uniformly across polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrates and anchor them firmly in place. The resulting membrane architecture suppressed catalyst aggregation, strengthened interfacial adhesion between the catalyst layer and the polymer support, and delivered substantial improvements in stability, antifouling performance, and permeation flux. The team produced several membrane variants using this approach, including Fe3O4/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF (“Efficient acetaminophen degradation and advanced treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater by high loading density Fe3O4/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF catalytic membranes system”), CoAl-LDH/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF (“Interfacial hydrophilicity induced CoAl-LDH/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF Fenton-like catalytic filtration membrane for efficient anti-fouling and water decontamination”), and Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF (“Ultra-low Cu(I) loading achieving ultra-high fouling-resistance and decontamination performance in a self-cleaning Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx@PVDF catalytic membrane integrated system”) configurations, in both hollow fiber and flat-sheet formats. When operated in a coupled system combining Fenton-like oxidation with membrane separation, these catalytic membranes removed antibiotics efficiently from water. Building on those results, the researchers developed an integrated treatment process that paired a membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a catalytic membrane reactor. Applied to real pharmaceutical wastewater, this combined system achieved efficient removal of antibiotics, total organic carbon, suspended solids, and ammonia nitrogen (NH4⁺-N). “This process cut treatment costs by more than 30%,” said Dr. Xie Chao, a member of the team. “It shows strong technical performance while also delivering clear economic benefits.” The work provides a new solution for treating high-COD refractory industrial wastewater and, according to the researchers, highlights the significant potential of catalytic membrane technologies for large-scale environmental applications.