Electroconductive MXene‐Thin‐Film‐Composite Membranes for Coupled Osmotic Concentration and PFAS Mineralization
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Mechanical Engineering 10–241 Donadeo Innovation Center for Engineering Advanced Water Research Lab (AWRL) University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada
- 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta Canada
- 3Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Drexel University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
- 4RWTH Aachen University Aachener Verfahrenstechnik – Chemical Process Engineering Aachen Germany
- 5Department of Materials Science and Engineering Drexel University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
Abstract
We introduce an integrated treatment system that couples osmotic dewatering with advanced oxidation (AO) using electrically conductive Ti3C2T x MXene‐based membranes, enabling simultaneous PFAS concentration and electrochemical degradation and mineralization. Conductive thin‐film composite membranes were fabricated by depositing Ti3C2T x either on the active layer or on the porous support, with the active layer retained on the opposite surface. These architectures enabled operation of advanced‐ oxidation forward‐osmosis (AO‐FO) and advanced‐ oxidation pressure‐retarded‐osmosis (AO‐PRO) modes, respectively. The MXene‐based membranes exhibited high electrical conductivity (5446 S·cm−1) and achieved 99% rejection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Electrochemical degradation experiments showed that increasing the applied current density from 200 to 500 A/m2 enhanced PFOA degradation and mineralization. At 500 A/m−2, total organic carbon removal reached 75% in the AO‐FO mode and 93% in the AO‐PRO mode. The superior performance of the AO‐PRO configuration is attributed to the synergistic effects of stronger osmotic dewatering, which increases the local PFOA concentration, and the favorable structural and electrochemical properties of the MX‐B membrane architecture, including lower charge‐transfer resistance and enhanced physical stability, thereby accelerating PFOA degradation. Furthermore, the integrated process reduced energy consumption, highlighting the potential of MXene‐enabled osmotic‐electrochemical systems for energy‐efficient PFAS destruction and safe effluent management.
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BibTeX
@article{yousefi2026electroconductive,
title = {{Electroconductive MXene‐Thin‐Film‐Composite Membranes for Coupled Osmotic Concentration and PFAS Mineralization}},
author = {Afrouz Yousefi and Pooria Karami and Vahid Rad and Amir Aghaei and Mojtaba Mohseni and Lingling Yang and Masoud Soroush and Matthias Wessling and Mohamed Gamal El‐Din and Mohtada Sadrzadeh},
journal = {Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/smll.75540},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.75540},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Electroconductive MXene‐Thin‐Film‐Composite Membranes for Coupled Osmotic Concentration and PFAS Mineralization
AU - Afrouz Yousefi
AU - Pooria Karami
AU - Vahid Rad
AU - Amir Aghaei
AU - Mojtaba Mohseni
AU - Lingling Yang
AU - Masoud Soroush
AU - Matthias Wessling
AU - Mohamed Gamal El‐Din
AU - Mohtada Sadrzadeh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
JO - Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
DO - 10.1002/smll.75540
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.75540
AB - We introduce an integrated treatment system that couples osmotic dewatering with advanced oxidation (AO) using electrically conductive Ti3C2T x MXene‐based membranes, enabling simultaneous PFAS concentration and electrochemical degradation and mineralization. Conductive thin‐film composite membranes were fabricated by depositing Ti3C2T x either on the active layer or on the porous support, with the active layer retained on the opposite surface. These architectures enabled operation of advanced‐ oxidation forward‐osmosis (AO‐FO) and advanced‐ oxidation pressure‐retarded‐osmosis (AO‐PRO) modes, respectively. The MXene‐based membranes exhibited high electrical conductivity (5446 S·cm−1) and achieved 99% rejection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Electrochemical degradation experiments showed that increasing the applied current density from 200 to 500 A/m2 enhanced PFOA degradation and mineralization. At 500 A/m−2, total organic carbon removal reached 75% in the AO‐FO mode and 93% in the AO‐PRO mode. The superior performance of the AO‐PRO configuration is attributed to the synergistic effects of stronger osmotic dewatering, which increases the local PFOA concentration, and the favorable structural and electrochemical properties of the MX‐B membrane architecture, including lower charge‐transfer resistance and enhanced physical stability, thereby accelerating PFOA degradation. Furthermore, the integrated process reduced energy consumption, highlighting the potential of MXene‐enabled osmotic‐electrochemical systems for energy‐efficient PFAS destruction and safe effluent management.
SN - 1613-6810
SN - 1613-6829
ER -