Nawaz, H., Umar, M., Nawaz, I. et al. (6 more authors) (2021) Photodegradation of textile pollutants by nanocomposite membranes of polyvinylidene fluoride integrated with polyaniline–titanium dioxide nanotubes. Chemical Engineering Journal, 419. 129542. ISSN 1385-8947
Abstract
In this research article, the PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride)–PANI (polyaniline)–titanium nanotube (TNT) based nanocomposite membranes were synthesised through phase inversion method. The composition and structural properties of nanocomposite membranes were characterised by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The significant properties of synthesised membranes such as distribution of pore size, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and photocatalytic behaviour of membranes were also studied. The hydrophilic properties of the composite membranes increased with filler content (PANI-TNT) and results in improved pure water flux (484.8 ± 2.9 L/m2 h−1) compared to that (312.0 ± 1.91 L/m2 h−1) of the pure PVDF membrane. The pure PVDF and nanocomposite membrane were further analysed in terms of their filtration properties such as adsorption of dyes (methyl orange, Allura red) and UV self-cleaning properties. The newly developed nanocomposite membranes showed excellent pollutant removal efficiency (~90%). The synthesised nanocomposite membranes also showed photocatalytic activities due to the presence of TNTs, and adsorption of methyl orange (MO) reduces significantly with the UV light irradiations. The UV self-cleaning property of the composite membrane was further confirmed due to their high flux recovery ratio of about 94%. The results show that embedded PANI-TNT within nanocomposite was photo-catalytically active and degrade the dye molecules from the surface of the nano composite membrane.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Polyvinylidene fluoride; Polyaniline; Titania nanotubes; Nanofiltration membrane; Phase inversion; Anti-fouling; Photodegradation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/R00661X/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2021 15:08 |
Last Modified: | 15 Apr 2021 15:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.cej.2021.129542 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:173064 |