Water purification and toxicity control of chlorophenols by 3D nanofiber membranes decorated with photocatalytic titania nanoparticles

Highly photocatalytic water purification three-dimensional nanofiber membranes were fabricated. We identified the optimal fabrication process of nylon-6 nanofiber membranes suspending titania nanoparticles for potential water purifications and toxicity control of chlorophenols. Nanofibers and nanoparticles were deposited on a soda lime glass substrate by electrospinning and electrospraying, respectively. Titania nanoparticles were used to induce the UV light driven photocatalytic effect and nanofibers were used to tightly suspend the nanoparticles in air. Both batch and continuous deposition processes were introduced in the membrane fabrication process and their water purification performances were compared and quantified using a methylene blue solution, which is often used as a model pollutant. Surface morphologies and characteristics of the membranes fabricated at various process conditions were also provided. The membrane fabricated by the continuous means yielded 100% degradation of the methylene blue solution within 90 min under a relatively weak UV irradiation (0.6 mW/cm2), which promises its potential indoor application. The nano-textured membranes developed in this work was also applied to the real pollutants, such as chlorophenols, and showed a promising performance in their toxicity control.