The submerged aeration membrane (SAM) system and axial vibration membrane (AVM) system can mitigate membrane fouling. In this study, both systems were investigated to compare the performance of filtration and the membrane fouling in algae filtration. In 5-h filtration, the transmembrane pressure (TMP) of SAM reached to 70.0 kPa, while there was almost no increase in TMP for AVM. After continuous filtration, it could be found that there was hardly any algae cells on the membrane of AVM (0.11 g/m(2)), which was about 32.4 times less than that of SAM (3.56 g/m(2)). Compared with the SAM system, AVM had a lesser membrane fouling, regardless of the reversible fouling or irreversible fouling. By SEM, FTIR and EEM, it could be found there was less irreversible extracellular organic matter (EOM) on the membrane of AVM. By MW distribution, it could be observed that less EOM with high-MW adhered to membrane of AVM. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.