Fabrication of Mn oxide incorporated ceramic membranes for membrane fouling control and enhanced catalytic ozonation of p-chloronitrobenzene

Mn oxide incorporated membranes were fabricated by incorporation of MnO2 particles prepared using different methods (C-MnO2, M-MnO2 and S-MnO2) on the surface of ceramic ultrafiltration membranes. Initially, the physicochemical properties of prepared MnO2 particles were systematically analyzed, and S-MnO2 exhibited the best dispersibility and smallest particle size. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses demonstrated that the morphologies and topographies of the fabricated membranes were significantly affected by the preparation method of MnO2 particles. Subsequently, sodium alginate was employed to investigate the antifouling properties of the fabricated membranes. Although the incorporation of MnO2 particles increased membrane intrinsic resistance to varying degrees, M-MnO2 and S-MnO2 apparently mitigated both reversible and irreversible fouling in the presence of ozone, whereas C-MnO2 exerted a minor influence. Further, p-chloronitrobenzene was used to study the activity of fabricated membranes in catalytic ozonation. C-MnO2, M-MnO2 and S-MnO2 incorporated membranes exhibited enhanced activities with the removal efficiencies of 51.7%, 61.5% and 68.0%, respectively. The results indicated that the preparation method of S-MnO2 was most appropriate for the preparation of highly dispersive MnO2 particles to incorporate with ceramic membranes. Results in this study contribute to the fabrication of Mn oxide incorporated membranes with an efficient and convenient way, and provide relevant information on their actual application. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.