The addition of antibacterial material to hollow fiber membranes improves the membrane anti-biofouling characteristics. Antibacterial membranes were fabricated in this study to improve membrane function while also extending membrane lifetime. Neat polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and PVDF hollow fiber membrane with the incorporation of antibacterial agent zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with various loading (2.5–7.5 wt.%) were fabricated by using dry/wet spinning method. The membrane structure, particle distribution, functional group, hydrophilicity, and pore size of each membrane were all assessed. The result shows that all ZnO/PVDF hollow fiber membranes have the asymmetric structure with even dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles throughout the membranes. The results showed that increased ZnO loadings considerably improved membrane hydrophilicity, and average pore size, in addition to good performance of pure water flux. Antibacterial testing shows that ZnO incorporated in the membrane matrix and membrane surfaces prevents bacteria that cause biofouling from adhering to the membrane. ZnO/PVDF membrane recorded excellent bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection at 93.4% ± 0.4 with flux recovery rate at 70.9% ± 2.1. These results suggest that antibacterial ZnO/PVDF hollow fiber membranes are promising in relation to reducing biofouling for various water and wastewater treatment.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) that can cause adverse effects on human health. The incorporation of materials as visible light photocatalysts and its energy storage capability allow for the photodegradation of BPA, especially in the absence of a light source. To date, there have been no significant studies regarding energy storage in membrane technology, with only a focus on the suspension form. Hence, this study was conducted to degrade the pollutant through a co-extrusion process using a mixture of copper (II) oxide and tungsten oxide as the photocatalyst and energy storage materials, respectively. Both materials were embedded into polyvinylidene (PVDF) membranes to produce a Cu₂O/WO₃/PVDF dual-layer hollow fiber (DLHF) membrane. The outer dope extrusion flow rate was set at 3 mL/min, 6 mL/min, and 9 mL/min with photocatalyst:polymer ratios of 0.3, 0.50, and 0.7 Cu₂O/WO₃/PVDF, respectively. The performance of the membranes for each ratio was evaluated using 2 ppm of BPA with visible light irradiation. The results showed that each membrane’s outer and inner layers featured finger-like void structures, while the intermediate part had a sponge-like structure. The membrane with the photocatalyst:polymer ratio of 0.5 was hydrophilic and had a high porosity of 54.97%, resulting in a high flow of 510 L/m²h. Under visible light irradiation, a 0.5 Cu₂O/PVDF DLHF membrane with a 6-mL/min outer dope flow rate was able to remove 97.82% of 2-ppm BPA without copper leaching into the water sample. Under dark conditions, the DLHF sample showed the capability of energy storage performance and could drive certain degradation after lighting off up to 70.73% of 2-ppm BPA. The photocatalytic DLHF membrane with the ratio of 0.5 was the most optimal due to its potential morphology and ability to degrade a large amount of BPA. It is important to emphasize that usage of materials with the capability for energy storage can provide a significant contribution toward more practical membranes, so photodegradation can occur even in dark conditions.

Lead (Pb) exposure can be harmful to public health, especially through drinking water. One of the promising treatment methods for lead contaminated water is the adsorption-filtration method. To ensure the cost-effectiveness of the process, naturally derived adsorbent shall be utilised. In this study, hydroxyapatite particles, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ (HAP) derived from waste cockle shell, were incorporated into the outer layer of polysulfone/HAP (PSf/HAP) dual-layer hollow fibre (DLHF) membrane to enhance the removal of lead from the water source due to its hydrophilic nature and excellent adsorption capacity. The PSf/HAP DLHF membranes at different HAP loadings in the outer layer (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) were fabricated via the co-extrusion phase inversion technique. The performance of the DLHF membranes was evaluated in terms of pure water flux, permeability and adsorption capacity towards lead. The results indicated that the HAP was successfully incorporated into the outer layer of the membrane, as visibly confirmed by microscopic analysis. The trend was towards an increase in pure water flux, permeability and lead adsorption capacity as the HAP loading increased to the optimum loading of 30 wt%. The optimized DLHF membrane displayed a reduced water contact angle by 95%, indicating its improved surface hydrophilicity, which positively affects the pure water flux and permeability of the membrane. Furthermore, the DLHF membrane possessed the highest lead adsorption capacity, 141.2 mg/g. The development of a hybrid inorganic–organic DLHF membrane via the incorporation of the naturally derived HAP in the outer layer is a cost-effective approach to treat lead contaminated water.