Issue 16, 2017

An ultrafiltration membrane with enhanced photocatalytic performance from grafted N–TiO2/graphene oxide

Abstract

An enhanced photocatalytic ultrafiltration membrane was prepared by grafting with N–TiO2/graphene oxide. After N–TiO2/graphene oxide particles and a polysulfone membrane had been prepared, the N–TiO2/graphene oxide was distributed in deionized water, poured onto the membrane surface and grafted onto the membrane surface by using a pump filter. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to investigate the surface and morphological structure of the prepared membranes. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the elemental compositions and chemical bonds of the membranes. The hydrophilicity of the membrane surface was investigated by a sessile-drop method. The membrane water flux was tested in an ultrafiltration cup system. Methylene blue removal under darkness, ultraviolet light and sunlight were used to characterize the photocatalytic ability. The photocatalytic membrane exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic performance, especially in sunlight rather than in ultraviolet light. The synergistic effect of photocatalysis and filtration was tested; the photocatalytic membrane exhibited a better methylene-blue removal ability than a pure membrane as the methylene blue concentration in filtered water was lower. The recyclability of the photocatalytic membrane had a great improvement compared with the powder photocatalyst.

Graphical abstract: An ultrafiltration membrane with enhanced photocatalytic performance from grafted N–TiO2/graphene oxide

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Dec 2016
Accepted
22 Jan 2017
First published
03 Feb 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 9880-9887

An ultrafiltration membrane with enhanced photocatalytic performance from grafted N–TiO2/graphene oxide

W. Chen, T. Ye, H. Xu, T. Chen, N. Geng and X. Gao, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 9880 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA27666K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements