Interfacially crosslinked β-cyclodextrin polymer composite porous membranes for fast removal of organic micropollutants from water by flow-through adsorption

Persistent organic micropollutants have seriously damaged aquatic ecological equilibrium and affected human health. Conventional adsorbents are limited due to slow adsorption rate. Therefore, it’s significant to integrate adsorbent into porous membrane to develop a highly efficient continuous filtration method for water purification. Herein, β-cyclodextrin polymer (β-CDP) composite porous membranes were prepared via convenient interfacial cross-linking. The membranes combined the adsorption ability of β-CDP and the convective mass transport process of filtration membrane to quickly remove contaminants from water by flow-through adsorption. In optimized preparation conditions, the composite membrane exhibited a 100% of removal efficiency towards bisphenol A and a high treating capacity up to 440 mg m -2 . The treating capacity kept nearly unchanged in acidic and neutral pH condition, while increased greatly with the addition of salts due to the salting-out effect. Also, the membrane could completely remove pollutants with ultrahigh flux up to 2500 L·m -2  h -1 . In addition, the used membranes were fully regenerated by mild ethanol cleaning.