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Article

Tailoring the Effects of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Composite Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane

1
School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
2
College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 8001, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Tae-Hyun Bae and Pei Sean Goh
Membranes 2021, 11(4), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040241
Received: 15 February 2021 / Revised: 21 March 2021 / Accepted: 24 March 2021 / Published: 28 March 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CESE-2019: Applications of Membranes for Sustainability)
In this study, thin-film composite (TFC) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were synthesized by coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution by a dip coating method and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde (GA) acted as a cross-linking agent to improve the thermal and chemical stability of the thin film coating. The incorporation of TiO2 in the film enhanced the hydrophilicity of the membrane and the rejection of dyes during filtration. The layer of TiO2 nanoparticles on the PVDF membranes have mitigated the fouling effects compared to the plain PVDF membrane. The photocatalytic performance was studied at different TiO2 loading for the photodegradation of dyes (reactive blue (RB) and methyl orange (MO)). The results indicated that the thin film coating of TiO2/PVA enhanced photocatalytic performance and showed good reusability under UV irradiation. This study showed that nearly 78% MO and 47% RB were removed using the TFC membrane. This work provides a new vision in the fabrication of TFC polymeric membranes as an efficient wastewater treatment tool. View Full-Text
Keywords: dip-coating; dyes; membrane; nanocomposite; polyvinylidene fluoride; titanium dioxide dip-coating; dyes; membrane; nanocomposite; polyvinylidene fluoride; titanium dioxide
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MDPI and ACS Style

Sakarkar, S.; Muthukumaran, S.; Jegatheesan, V. Tailoring the Effects of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Composite Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane. Membranes 2021, 11, 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040241

AMA Style

Sakarkar S, Muthukumaran S, Jegatheesan V. Tailoring the Effects of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Composite Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane. Membranes. 2021; 11(4):241. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040241

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sakarkar, Shruti, Shobha Muthukumaran, and Veeriah Jegatheesan. 2021. "Tailoring the Effects of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the Separation and Antifouling Performance of Thin-Film Composite Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membrane" Membranes 11, no. 4: 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040241

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