High flux and hydrogen peroxide-assisted photocatalytic antifouling membranes from coatings of Cu@ZrO2 onto plasma-grafted PAA/PES

Abstract

In this study, the highly stable ZrO 2 was bandgap-tuned with copper nanoparticles and it was used as the coating on PAA/PES membranes. The photocatalyst was synthesized by chemical reduction of Cu 2+ and precipitation of Cu nanoparticles on the surface of ZrO 2 . Photocatalyst characterizations were used such as FTIR, SEM-EDS, XRD, BET, UV-Vis DRS, XPS, ESR demonstrating the successful synthesis of photocatalysts with a bandgap of 3.15 eV, and the photocatalysts generating active free radicals under UV light was confirmed. The decomposition of AR1 dye catalyzed by Cu@ZrO 2 photocatalyst under UV light and assisted by H 2 O 2 occurred almost completely. The photocatalytic activity and antifouling ability of Cu@ZrO 2 /PAA/PES membrane were confirmed by the stable degradation of AR1 over five cycles and the FRR of 92% under UV light irradiation. Furthermore, the coated membranes showed higher pure water flux than pristine PES membranes and the flux was quite stable during the 300 min investigation. • Success in bandgap modification of ZrO 2 by copper metal nanoparticles to enhance photocatalytic efficiency • Mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of acid red 1 due to the major contributions of h + and • OH radicals • Plasma-induced grafting of PAA onto the PES membrane surface helped to improve adhesion between the membrane and the photocatalyst. • Coated photocatalytic Cu@ZrO 2 /PAA/PES membranes showed improved water fluxes and antifouling ability