Construction of ZrO2-CeO2 composite UF membranes for effective PVA recovery from desizing wastewater

• The introduction of ZrO 2 effectively improved the compatibility between the CeO 2 dispersions and intermediate layer. • An integrated ZrO 2 -CeO 2 composite membrane with a thickness of 300 nm was fabricated. • The membranes achieved ∼100% recovery of PVA and a permeance of 67 L·m -2 ·h -1 ·bar -1 under harsh conditions. • A 95.1% flux recovery was achieved under the synergistic cleaning of SDBS and NaClO. • The excellent membrane stability promised great potential for PVA recovery from desizing wastewater. Ceramic ultrafiltration membranes play an important role for the PVA recovery from desizing wastewater. In this study, an integrated and thin (approximately 300 nm) ZrO 2 -CeO 2 composite UF membrane was constructed, with a MWCO of 16 kDa and a water permeance of 116 L·m -2 ·h -1 ·bar -1 . Nano ZrO 2 particles were introduced to optimize the particle size distribution of the CeO 2 dispersion, therefore improve its compatibility with the intermediate layer. The membrane also exhibited outstanding chemical stability in both acid (pH=1) and alkali (pH=14) solutions. In addition, the membrane exhibited excellent PVA separation performance under harsh conditions (operation temperature=80 °C, and the solution pH=13), with a nearly 100% recovery rate of PVA and a stable permeance of 67 L·m -2 ·h -1 ·bar -1 . Subsequently, the membrane showed outstanding efficiency for chemical cleaning, with the flux recovery ratio reaching 95.1% under optimized cleaning conditions. Meanwhile, the pore structure and integrity of the membrane layer maintained stable during the whole process. Overall, this study provides a high-performance UF membrane from new material, which exhibits great potential for PVA recovery from desizing wastewater.