Hydrophilic PAA-g-MWCNT/TiO2@PES nano-matrix composite membranes: Anti-fouling, antibacterial and photocatalytic

Abstract

The synthesis of composite nano-matrix membranes from a variety of nanoscale materials will impair the comprehensive properties of the materials. Therefore, it is not easy to prepare multifunctional nano-matrix membranes with excellent performance. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have superiority in absorption of impurities and contaminants in aqueous solution. Therefore, Polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membrane modified by CNTs and PAA-g-MWCNT/TiO2 (AMT) organic-inorganic hybrid particles is synthesized. And a new nano-matrix composite membrane PAA-g-MWCNT/TiO2@PES (AMTP) is prepared after the combination of the two particles, which endows the new composite membrane with three major effects of fouling resistance, photocatalysis and antibacterial properties. When the amount of AMT was 1 wt%, AMTP had the highest anti-pollution rate (31.21%); the best flux recovery rate (85.76%) and the degradation efficiency of MB and MO reached 90.03%, 62.36% within 2 h; the antibacterial rate was 98.12 %. When the dosage was 2 wt%, the antibacterial rate of AMTP reached 100 %. AMTP nano-matrix composite membranes have considerable adaptability and practicability of a wide application in the wastewater recovery and recycling.