Photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants and self‐cleaning performance of PES membrane incorporated sulfonated graphene oxide/ZnO nanocomposite

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Membrane technology is highly applicable to water purification due to its simple operation process. During the treatment of organic wastewater, the organic compounds are deposited on the membrane surface, which leads to membrane fouling. To alleviate this problem, the membrane separation process could be combined with eco-friendly photocatalytic technology. In this regard, facile synthesized nanomaterials, such as sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO), zinc oxide (ZnO), and SGO/ZnO (SGZ) are incorporated in a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane matrix used for antifouling analysis and degradation of organic pollutants in the presence of UV light irradiation. RESULTS: X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis shows that ZnO is bound strongly within the SGO-ZnO nanocomposite. The optical property was also altered for hybrid SGO-ZnO nanocomposite as compared to the ZnO photocatalyst. The physicochemical characterization of PES-SGO, PES-ZnO, and PES-SGZ nanocomposite membranes was studied. Hydrophilicity and water flux are improved with the addition of nanomaterials. Among the membranes, PES-SGZ nanocomposite membranes exhibit maximum water flux and lower contact angle value of 152 L m −2 h −1 and 51.9°, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the membrane was assessed by organic pollutants under the UV light. The PES-SGZ nanocomposite membrane revealed higher photocatalytic efficiency for crystal violet at 92.3% and ciprofloxacin at 95.1%. CONCLUSION: The modified PES membranes enhanced antifouling and hydrophilic properties. Specifically, the PES-SGZ nanocomposite membrane proved to be a superior material for the effective photodegradation of organic pollutants and it achieved a higher water flux. To conclude, the prepared photocatalytic membrane could have vast potential in the treatment of toxic organic industrial effluents.

Combined Application of Membrane and Advanced Oxidation Processes for Removal of Pharmaceuticals from Water

“…Boopathy et al 41 (2020) evaluated the performance of the sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO), zinc oxide (ZnO), and SGO/ZnO (SGZ) nanomaterials incorporated into the polyethersulfone PES membrane, which exhibited better hydrophilic property with ciprofloxacin feed solution. Such SGZ nanomaterials incorporated into the PES membrane showed higher ciprofloxacin (95.1 %) degradation efficiency than SGO nanomaterial under UV light irradiation.…”

Heterogeneous Photocatalysis of Metronidazole in Aquatic Samples

“…A commercially used form of TiO 2 is Degussa P25 nanopowder consisting of 75% anatase and 25% rutile, with a surface area of 45 m 2 g −1 [18,19]. For the photodegradation of pharmaceutical residues, in addition to TiO 2 , other semiconductors such as tungsten(VI) oxide [20,21], ZnO [22,23], Cu 2 O [24,25], and BiWO 6 [26,27] and BiVO 4 [28,29] have also been verified.…”

Enhancing water flux and antifouling properties of PES hollow fiber membranes via incorporation of surface‐functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles

“…These include polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), [6][7][8] polysulfone (PSf) [9][10][11] and polyethersulfone (PES). [12][13][14][15][16] Nevertheless, these polymeric materials are not without their limitations. Their hydrophobic and low surface energy characteristics make them susceptible to fouling and flux decline, which consequently leads to an increase in energy consumption (due to pressure drop) and maintenance costs (due to frequent cleaning process).…”