Study of the Effectiveness of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle in Polyethersulfone (PES) Composite Membrane for Removal of Oil in Oily Wastewater

Abstract

Polyethersulfone/Titanium oxide (PES/TiO2) composite membranes at various compositions of TiO2 nanoparticle (0, 0.1 and 0.5 wt. %) were prepared via phase inversion method. The prepared composite membranes were then tested for degradation process and separation process for oily wastewater. It was found that the addition of TiO2 that possess visible-light response activity led to an improvement of the membrane performances especially in photocatalytic activities. The membrane performances were also investigated by using liquid separation system in order to obtain the flux/permeation rate and also the percentage of oil removal by the membranes. The results indicate that the increment the amount of TiO2 nanoparticle in the composite membrane reduced the permeation flux. Further study has been made by characterizing the membranes in terms of contact angle, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The characterization results indicate that the TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly mixed in the membrane. The increased of membrane hydrophilicity was demonstrated by the contact angle measurement. By adding TiO2, the membrane hydrophilicity was observed to be better than the neat PES composite membrane. Cross sectional images from FESEM also indicate that the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles help in increasing the macro-void of the membranes. Finally, a comparison between neat PES membrane and PES/TiO2 nanoparticle membrane proved that addition of TiO2 nanoparticle can be one of the ways to maximize the removal of oil.

Preparation, Characterization and Performances of Photocatalytic TiO2-Ag2O/PESf Membrane for Methylene Blue Removal

“…Figure 1a(i) is the neat PESf membrane surface image while Figure 1b-e(i) is the images PTA membranes. The surface of the PESf membrane is almost the same as the previous studies, where the surface is smooth and the pores are hardly seen [17][18][19]. On the other hand, the distribution of TiO2/Ag2O catalyst can be clearly seen on the surface of the membranes distinguish by the white dots on the surface.…”

Effect of Additive on the Structure and Performance of PVDF Hollow Fibre Membrane on Phosphorus Removal

“…This result shows that the water contact angle measurement for membrane with additive are lower than the membrane without additive. By comparing to the previous study (Shahruddin et al, 2018), combination of 15 wt% PES polymer, 84.5 wt% DMAc solvent and 0.5 wt% TiO 2 increased the hydrophilicity of the membrane as the mean water contact angle measurement was 50.1 o . This result gives slightly same contact angle measurement with the previous study as the result gained is 51.18 o .…”

“…The wall of the membrane also thinner with the present of TiO 2 which make the water molecules easier to diffuse through the pores of the membrane. By comparing to the previous study by (Shahruddin et al, 2018), the membrane fabricated with 15 wt% PES polymer, 84.5 wt% Dmac solvent and 0.5 wt% TiO 2 additive gave 7.58 L/m2.hr for the mean value of pure water flux from 20 minutes to 120 minutes. This result also has slightly different mean value for the pure water flux which is 7.…”

“…The measurement of water contact angle of PVDF/DMF/TiO 2 are from 54.89 o to 44.70 o while the measurement of water contact angle of PVDF/DMF are from 68.73 o to 60.29 o.This result shows that the water contact angle measurement for membrane with additive are lower than the membrane without additive. By comparing to the previous study(Shahruddin et al, 2018), combination of 15 wt% PES polymer, 84.5 wt% DMAc solvent and 0.5 wt% TiO 2 increased the hydrophilicity of the membrane as the mean water contact angle…”

Enhanced Photocatalytic and Filtration Performance of TiO2-Ag Composite-Coated Membrane Used for the Separation of Oil Emulsions

“…The extent of membrane fouling is primarily determined by the chemical and physical properties of the pollutants and the membrane surface. In general, low surface roughness [21], high hydrophilicity [22], and negative surface charge [23] can reduce the adhesion of oil droplets, making these properties beneficial for membranes applied for oil-in-water emulsion separation. All these factors are significantly affected by the properties of the nanomaterials used for membrane modification.…”