Coordination-driven fabrication of continuous ZIF-8 layer on Noria-PEI modified polymer support for dye removal

The release of textile dyeing wastewater results in significant environmental pollution and endangers human health. Membrane separation technology offers distinct advantages in textile wastewater treatment due to its energy efficiency, high performance, and excellent separation capabilities. This study demonstrates a facile MOF-polymer hybrid membrane fabrication strategy through amine-enhanced interfacial coordination. The introduced –NH 2 groups via Noria and polyethyleneimine (PEI) co-deposition would chelate metal ions, which enhances the heterogeneous nucleation and the compatibility of metal–organic framework (MOF) and polymer. The optimized membrane exhibits superior dye sieving performance, achieving Congo red rejection of 98.9% and water permeance of 23.2 L m -2 h −1 bar −1 . Microstructural analysis reveals dense intergrown zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) architectures, validating the co-deposition approach as an effective surface engineering protocol for constructing continuous MOF-polymer hybrid membranes with defect-free interfaces. The membrane also shows superior operational stability at different pH levels and during long-term operation, which shows great potential for practical application.