Superwetting stainless steel mesh decorated with TCPP-doped UiO-66-NH2 with enhanced gravity-driven oil–water separation and visible-light-driven sterilization performance

In this work, we fabricated a multifunctional membrane by in-situ growth of tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin-doped UiO-66-NH2 on stainless steel mesh (SSM), denoted as TCPP/UiO@SSM, for gravity-driven oil–water/seawater mixtures separation and visible-light-driven bacterial inactivation. The as-prepared membrane exhibited high permeation flux (up to 46312 ± 1583 L m−2h−1) as well as separation efficiency (above 98%) towards various oil–water/seawater mixtures separation, which resulted from the rough hierarchical structure and the inherent super-wettability. In particular, the membrane can effectively deal with viscous oil fouling to achieve a desired flux recovery ratio (FRR) after separating crude oil from water, attributing to the self-cleaning property originated from the photo-active TCPP/UiO. Furthermore, the as-fabricated TCPP/UiO@SSM has the ability to efficiently inactivate typical Gram bacteria (6 log units) in water under visible light. Both the oil–water separation and photocatalytic sterilization performances of TCPP/UiO@SSM are superior to UiO@SSM. The doping of photosensitive TCPP in UiO-66-NH2 not only improved the hydrophilicity, but also enhanced the photocatalytic activity by creating a Z-scheme heterojunction to promote the separation of charge carriers and amplify the photothermal effect. This work provides a new platform for water disinfection and the treatment of oily wastewater containing viscous oil phase based on UiO metal–organic framework.