Effect of TiO2 nanowire addition on PVDF ultrafiltration membrane performance

Effect of reduced graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite with different molar ratios on the performance of PVDF ultrafiltration membranes

“…The improved hydrophilicity of GO/PVDF membranes compared to the bare PVDF can be ascribed by the large amount of oxygenated groups of the GO nanosheets dispersed in the polymer matrix [16]. In the case of TiO 2 /PVDF, the high hydrophilicity of the modified membranes can be related to the higher affinity of TiO 2 to water and hydrolysis with hydroxyl groups owing to the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles [21]. On the other hand, as can be seen in Table 2, the contact angle is decreased with the addition of 0.05 wt.% rGO/TiO 2 in all molar ratios of rGO/TiO 2 nanocomposite.…”

“…But, the TiO 2 nanoparticles/organic composite membranes have some intrinsic and considerable drawbacks. By dispersing TiO 2 to casting solution, both aggregation and agglomeration of TiO 2 can occur at high concentrations that lead to defects in the membrane pore structure and reduction of hydrophilicity and permeability [21]. Also, some studies have showed that the excessive addition of the inorganic additives such as TiO 2 may negatively affect the morphology and elasticity of the polymeric membranes [4,22].…”

Preparation and characterization of PVDF/TiO2 hybrid membranes with ionic liquid modified nano-TiO2 particles

“…Most of the recent studies have focused on introduction of isodimensional nanoparticles such as TiO 2 [3][4][5][6], Al 2 O 3 [7,8], ZrO 2 [9], SiO 2 [10,11], CaCO 3 [12], Mg(OH) 2 [13], one dimensional TiO 2 nanowires [14], two dimensional clay platelets [15]. The isodimensional nanoparticles were often introduced to the membrane matrix by blending polymer solutions with them (ex situ) [3][4][5]7,9,10,[13][14][15] or with their precursors (in situ) [8] in the nonsolvent induced phase separation processes or by blending them with polymer-diluent mixtures in the thermally induced phase separation processes [6,11]. However, the strong agglomeration of nanoparticles in the membrane and the leakage of the nanoparticles from the nanocomposite membranes had been an important problem to be solved which had already affected the application of the nanocomposite membranes [13,16].…”

Fouling prevention in the membrane distillation of phenolic-rich solution using superhydrophobic PVDF membrane incorporated with TiO2 nanoparticles

“…The great surface hydrophobicity of these membranes is required in membrane distillation to avoid pore wetting and fouling [18]. The water contact angle of P-pure membrane was the lowest due to the addition of unmodified TiO 2 which is hydrophilic in nature [26]. The fluoroalkyl silane enhanced the membrane hydrophobicity, either by pre-modified (P-pre) or post-modified (P-post) membranes.…”