Self-assembly modification of polyamide membrane by coating titanium dioxide nanoparticles for water treatment applications

Modificação self-assembly de membrana de poliamida pela deposição de nanopartículas de dióxido titânio para aplicações no tratamento de água

Abstract

This study modified the surface of a commercial polyamide membrane with the deposition of TiO₂ nanoparticles by the self-assembly method under pressure with high permeability and photocatalytic activity. Changes in membrane characteristics and its performance for photocatalytic properties were evaluated. The results indicated that both membrane hydrophilicity and photocatalytic performance were significantly improved by the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles applied under a pressure of 1 bar. The deposition of the TiO₂ particles under pressure was able to maintain the particles on the surface of the membranes and their photocatalytic capacity for three cycles of use. The prepared TiO₂ photocatalytic membrane presented a great potential for wastewater treatment and for reuse wastewater systems due its ability to remove methylene blue (MB) dye solution by photocatalytic decomposition and physical separation.

Keywords:
membrane filtration; methylene blue; organic photodegradation; photocatalysis; titanium dioxide.