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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David XieORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Photocatalytic, hollow fiber membranes based on nanocomposites of titania nanoparticles and carbonaceous char were simultaneously fabricated in a single calcination step, and then optimized for the photo-degradation of pollutants and water recovery in an integrated membrane operation in this study. The physicochemical, mechanical and photocatalytic properties along with separation performance of two series of membranes were finely-tuned by systematically changing the calcination temperature (series 1: 500–1000 °C for 8 h holding time) and calcination time (series 2: 2–8 h at 600 °C). The calcined membranes were extensively characterized for morphology, thermal stability, microstructure, modulus and chemical compositions. Both constituents of titania and char are essential in deriving the desirable hollow fiber properties and membrane performance for photocatalysis and water recovery. By controlling the calcination conditions, membranes prepared at 600 °C for the 3 and 6 h duration displayed an optimal balance between enhanced mechanical strength (34 MPa) and high photo-degradation of acid orange 7 (90.4%). Membrane performance demonstrated water fluxes of 6.9 (H2O/dark), 12.9 (H2O/UV) 4.8 (AO7/dark) and 7.9 L m–2 h–1 (AO7/UV) with excellent organic dye rejection. Both membranes exhibited photo-induced super-hydrophilicity and defouling potential under the influence of UV light due to the photo-activation of exposed TiO2 nanoparticles on the membrane surface. The detailed mechanism of property correlation and separation performance for the photocatalytic hollow fibers is proposed and elucidated. This work offers an innovative material for the research avenue of photocatalytic, hollow fiber membrane reactors for advanced membrane treatment applications.
Author(s): Wang DK, Elma M, Motuzas J, Hou WC, Xie F, Zhang X
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Membrane Science
Year: 2017
Volume: 524
Pages: 163-173
Print publication date: 15/02/2017
Online publication date: 19/11/2016
Acceptance date: 31/10/2016
Date deposited: 12/09/2023
ISSN (print): 0376-7388
ISSN (electronic): 1873-3123
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.10.052
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2016.10.052
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