Membrane fouling has been considered as the greatest challenge for membrane separation especially in oil/water separation process. Novel strategies for reducing membrane fouling are highly important for membrane separation. In this study, a novel membrane antifouling method in oil/water separation was proposed through in situ generated micro-bubbles. The fouling reduced process was realized by combination of membrane separation and catalytic reaction. Oxygen micro-bubbles were in situ generated by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) under the catalysis of manganese oxide nanoparticles, which were loaded on the surface of carbonized PAN (cPAN) nanofibrous membrane. In situ generated micro-bubbles significantly inhibited the surface deposition of rejected oils through hydrophobic interaction between micro-bubbles and oils. Membrane permeability was significantly reduced to 909 ± 286 Lm⁻²h⁻¹bar⁻¹ (3% of its initial data) after 65 min of continuous oil-in-water separation. However, it remains as high as 14755 ± 1930 Lm⁻²h⁻¹bar⁻¹ (67.6% of initial data) with the presence of H₂O₂, which was 16.2 times higher. The current study presents a potential approach to achieve continuous oil/water emulsion separation with reduced membrane fouling and advance the practical application of membranes for oil/water separation.

膜结垢已被认为是膜分离的最大挑战，尤其是在油/水分离过程中。减少膜结垢的新策略对于膜分离非常重要。在这项研究中，通过原位产生的微气泡提出了一种油/水分离中的新型膜防污方法。通过膜分离和催化反应的结合来实现减少结垢的过程。通过过氧化氢（H ₂ O _2）的分解原位产生氧气微气泡）氧化锰纳米颗粒的催化下，将其负载在碳化PAN（cPAN）纳米纤维膜的表面上。原位产生的微泡通过微泡与油之间的疏水相互作用显着抑制了拒收油的表面沉积。在连续水包油分离65分钟后，膜的渗透性显着降低至909±286 Lm ^-2 h ^-1 bar ^-1（为初始数据的3％）。但是，在存在H ₂ O ₂的情况下，它仍然高达14755±1930 Lm ^-2 h ^-1 bar ^-1（初始数据的67.6％）。，是后者的16.2倍。当前的研究提出了一种潜在的方法，以实现连续的油/水乳液分离，减少膜的结垢，并促进膜在油/水分离中的实际应用。