Titania ultrafiltration membrane: Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity

A mesoporous photocatalytic titania (TiO2) membrane on alumina support is successfully fabricated via the sol–gel processing method. Several techniques such as dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction (XRD), TGA, N2-sorption, and SEM are utilized to investigate the optimized processing parameters and their influence on the final properties of the developed membrane. The prepared titania sol containing organic additives (HPC and PVA) has an average particle size of 55.6 nm with a narrow distribution. The resulting TiO2 membrane with thickness of 1 μm exhibits homogeneity with no cracks or pinholes. It also maintains small pore size (4.7 nm), large specific surface area (75 m2/g), and small crystallite size (8.3 nm).The permeability and photocatalytic properties of the titania membrane were measured. The permeability coefficient of the fabricated membrane is 30.09 cm3 min−1 bar−1 cm−2. These measurements indicate an optimum processing condition for the preparation of the membrane. The prepared titania membrane has a great potential in developing high efficient water treatment and reuse systems because of its multifunctional capability such as decomposition of organic pollutants and physical separation of contaminants.