Dyes are known as one of the serious major water pollutants. Traditional methods cannot decolorize dyes. Dyes are current threats to human and environmental health and pose a risk to the safety of groundwater and surface water. In this study, we developed and compared two surface functionalization methods including the dip-coating and in-situ filtration processes for a polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane by coating a polydopamine layer incorporated with the copper-based metal-organic framework (MOF). The membranes and fabricated Cu-MOF nanoparticle structure characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Zeta potential. A cross-flow filtration unit employed for antifouling, dye removal, and permeation examination of the modified membranes. The addition of Cu-MOF nanoparticles through dip-coating approach increased the water flux as well as dye rejection up to 90% compared to pristine PES UF membrane.
