Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Membrane Based on Pillararene-Intercalated MXene Nanosheets for Efficient Water Purification

Discharge of antibiotic-containing wastewater causes environmental pollution and threatens biological and human health. An efficient treatment method for this wastewater is urgently required. We prepared inorganic-organic hybrid MXene-pillararene nanosheets with a large lateral size (5-8 μm). The hybrid nanosheets were stacked on supports via vacuum-assisted filtration to prepare membranes with regular parallel slits and an interlayer spacing of 1.36 nm, which were used to purify antibiotic-containing water. Permeance through the membrane increased 100-fold compared with most polymeric and other two-dimensional nanofiltration membranes with similar rejection. This high permeance and rejection was attributed to the large lateral size of the nanosheets, regular interlayer spacing, and electrostatic interaction between the membrane and antibiotics. These membranes will broaden the applications of lamellar materials for the separation of high-value-added drugs in academia and industry.