An efficient, stable and reusable polymer/TiO2 photocatalytic membrane for aqueous pollution treatment

Abstract

In this study, a facile, convenient and highly efficient method was applied to immobilize TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on polymer matrix to realize the both advantages of effective photocatalytic degradation and no post-processing. 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium chloride (MTC) was introduced as a polymerizable cationic ligand to establish electrostatic interaction with TiO2 NPs, which improved the dispersion of the nanoparticles and thus enhanced the photocatalytic efficiency. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as the result of X-ray diffraction indicated that TiO2 NPs had been successfully introduced into the nanocomposites and immobilized with the matrix, and results of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy proved the uniform dispersion of TiO2 NPs with particle size at around 20 nm. Meanwhile, the systematic photodegradation experiments proved the excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the prepared polymer/TiO2 nanocomposite membranes in various conditions. Specifically, the decomposition rate of methylene blue (MB) during 270 min UV irradiation can reach 99.66%. Furthermore, the nanocomposite photocatalyst was found to be remarkably stable in cyclic decomposition tests, which can keep as high as 98.7% of degradation efficiency after 20 cycles, exhibiting outstanding stability and reusability. Thereby, the polymer/TiO2 nanocomposite membrane provides prospects to be applied in photocatalytic degradation and water contamination treatments.