Abstract
In this study, thin-film composite (TFC) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were synthesized by coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution by a dip coating method and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde (GA) acted as a cross-linking agent to improve the thermal and chemical stability of the thin film coating. The incorporation of TiO2 in the film enhanced the hydrophilicity of the membrane and the rejection of dyes during filtration. The layer of TiO2 nanoparticles on the PVDF membranes have mitigated the fouling effects compared to the plain PVDF membrane. The photocatalytic performance was studied at different TiO2 loading for the photodegradation of dyes (reactive blue (RB) and methyl orange (MO)). The results indicated that the thin film coating of TiO2/PVA enhanced photocatalytic performance and showed good reusability under UV irradiation. This study showed that nearly 78% MO and 47% RB were removed using the TFC membrane. This work provides a new vision in the fabrication of TFC polymeric membranes as an efficient wastewater treatment tool.
Highlights
Rapid urbanization and industrialization are leading to water scarcity and deterioration of the quality of freshwater
TiO2 nanoparticles showed improved photoactivity under visible light [30,33]. All these findings demonstrate that the combination of TiO2 and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coating of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes improves the physio-chemical properties of the membrane compared to the conventional polymeric membranes
The Surface Morphology of TFC Membranes at Different TiO2 Loading were collected at regular intervals to observe the photodegradation of dyes
Summary
Rapid urbanization and industrialization are leading to water scarcity and deterioration of the quality of freshwater. The textile industry is the highest water consuming industry and generates a large volume of effluent during the dyeing and finishing processes, where most of the dyes were washed out with water [3]. Effluents generated by the textile mills are notorious for their complexity, comprising synthetic dyes, cleansing agents, salts, surfactants, dispersants, inhibitory compounds, oil, toxic chemicals, and many other compounds [4,5]. Traditional technologies used to treat textile effluents have limitations and are still not adequate for complete degradation and removal of dye residues, as most of the compounds are highly resilient for these processes to be effective [7]. Despite the advantages mentioned above, fouling is the major factor that restricts the application of polymeric membranes for textile effluent treatment [8]. The incorporation of nanoparticles into membranes is a novel approach to overcome the disadvantages of fouling in polymeric membranes
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