WO3·H2O micro-flowers decorated PVDF/Ti3C2 MXene membrane for oily wastewater treatment

•PVDF/Ti3C2 membrane was prepared via electrospinning method.•WO3·H2O MFs was hydrothermally integrated to prepare PVDF/Ti3C2/WO3·H2O composite membrane.•The membrane disclosed superhydrophilicity and good mechanical stability.•The membrane displayed high separation efficiency and recyclability.•The membrane degrades organic pollutants under LED light irradiation. Purification of the complex wastewater mandates the fabrication of multi-functional membranes that can separate oil from emulsions and remove dangerous organic contaminants. Herein, we developed a new PVDF/Ti3C2/WO3·H2O fibrous membrane through the hydrothermal growth of WO3·H2O micro-flowers onto the porous PVDF/Ti3C2 electrospun mats. WO3·H2O micro-flowers showed similar growth spanning Ti3C2 MXene sheets having good interfacial contact, which regulated the wettability and enhanced the charge separation needed for boosting photo-reactivity. The fibrous PVDF/Ti3C2/WO3·H2O membrane displayed minimal oil adhesion, superhydrophilicity, and sustained underwater superoleophobic characteristics with outstanding separation effectiveness (∼99 %) and reusable nature. Notably, membrane had the ability to successfully saturate a wide variety of oil/water emulsions with a permeation flow of 1431–1542 L.m- 2.h- 1. The composite membrane is 39 times more efficient than PVDF/Ti3C2 electrospun membrane with regard to RhB degradation (∼91 %) and has good recyclability and refreshing behaviour under LED light irradiation. Such bi-functional materials with outstanding oil/water emulsion separation and photocatalytic degradation properties pave the way for treating complex oily wastewater. The present study presents a scalable method for fabricating metal-oxide-based multi-functional membranes utilising 2D MXene.