Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Volume 9, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2021.105388
Keywords
Visible-light photocatalysis; Antifouling; Self-cleaning; Dye rejection; Carbon quantum dots; UV-induced graft polymerisation
Categories
Funding
- Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Research Fund [IPSR/RMC/UTARRF/2020-C2/C06]
- Centre for Photonics and Advanced Materials Research (CPAMR, UTAR)
- (UTAR)
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A novel multifunctional composite membrane with photocatalytic, antifouling and self-cleaning properties was prepared through surface immobilization of nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots modified TiO2 photocatalysts using polyacrylic acid as a bridging agent. The membrane showed high resistance to fouling and was able to efficiently retain dye pollutants, while also demonstrating robust photocatalytic activity.
In this study, a novel multifunctional composite membrane with photocatalytic, antifouling and self-cleaning properties were prepared through the surface immobilization of nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots modified TiO2 (NCQDs-TiO2) photocatalysts using polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a bridging agent. The surface polymerization of PAA has introduced functional groups for the self-assembly of NCQDs-TiO2 functional layer (denoted as NTO) to improve the hydrophilicity of conventional PES membrane. The modified membranes with varying photocatalyst concentration (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt% NTO) were characterized for their surface chemistry and morphology using SEM-EDX, FTIR, XPS and contact angle analysis. Furthermore, the effect of NCQDs-TiO2 nanocomposite on the membrane performance was assessed in terms of rejection ability, fouling mitigation, selfcleaning and photocatalytic capability using methylene blue as a model pollutant. The characterization results evidenced that the NTO nancomposites were firmly attached on the PES-based supporting layer through the chemical bonding between surface-grafted carboxylic group and Ti atom. The surface hydrophilicity of composite membrane was enormously enhanced following a direct proportionality to NTO loading. The novel NTO/ PAA/PES membrane also demonstrated high resistance to MB fouling and was able to revive 93.7% of original water fluxes upon 15 min of visible-light irradiation. Moreover, the modified membranes could efficiently retain 90.9% of MB dye pollutant. The outstanding antifouling and self-cleaning performance were reasonably attributed to the intrinsic hydrophilicity and robust photocatalytic activity of NTO layer. This was further confirmed by the photodegradation of MB wherein the NTO-0.5/PAA/PES membrane degraded 94.9% of MB under 1 hr of visible-light irradiation. With its twofold advantages of membrane filtration and photocatalysis, the visible-light responsive photocatalytic membrane demonstrates huge potential in waste water treatment which could minimize membrane fouling and increase reusability of photocatalyst.
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