Integration of membrane distillation with heat-activated peroxymonosulfate for ciprofloxacin removal and municipal wastewater treatment

Effective removal of antibiotics from wastewater is critical to mitigating environmental and public health risks. This study presents an integrated process that couples heat-activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) oxidation with membrane distillation (MD) for simultaneous ciprofloxacin (CP) degradation and high-quality water recovery. The thermal energy of MD was utilized to activate PMS in situ, enhancing CP degradation and reducing membrane fouling. System performance was evaluated across a range of PMS concentrations and feed temperatures using both synthetic and real wastewater. Under optimal conditions (5 mmol L −1 PMS, 70 °C), the system achieved 99 % CP removal from synthetic wastewater (25 mg L −1 CP). In real wastewater treatment, the system delivered 70 % water recovery with a stable flux of 36.7 L m −2 h −1 , while simultaneously achieving 65.6 % TOC removal and effectively mitigating MD membrane fouling. Compared to standalone MD, the PMS/MD process demonstrated superior pollutant degradation, operational stability, and fouling resistance. These findings demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of PMS/MD integration as a potential energy-efficient approach for treating antibiotic-laden municipal wastewater. • Integrated PMS/MD enabled antibiotic degradation and clean water recovery. • PMS integration reduced membrane fouling for real wastewater treatment. • PMS/MD achieved a high CP removal rate and stable flux, outperforming standalone MD. • Real wastewater performance confirmed the feasibility of the integrated approach.