A green approach assembled multifunctional Ag/AgBr/TNF membrane for clean water production & disinfection of bacteria through utilizing visible light

• Multifunctional Ag/AgBr/TNF membrane for practical water treatment.
• Excellent photocatalytic degradation of organics and E. coli under visible light.
• AgBr and Ag NPs are the photoactive species in Ag/AgBr/TNF nanocomposites.
• Holes are the predominant active species for Ag/AgBr/TNF under visible light.
• Good reusability and stability of multifunctional membrane for promising engineering application.

In order to realize the ideal water treatment in a green and energy saving manner, TiO2 based multifunctional membrane proved to be a promising approach owing to its capability in utilizing visible light for photocatalytic pollutant degradation and disinfection of bacteria. However, few studies were found about the investigation of antibacterial abilities arising from the intrinsic properties of membrane and its minor composition. Here, a multifunctional membrane was created via a green approach to integrate the merits of hierarchical Ag/AgBr/TNF composites with micro-/-nano porous structures, the intrinsic antibacterial abilities of Ag, and the visible light absorption capability of AgBr. The synergy effects made it being a promising multifunctional membrane for concurrent water filtration and disinfection in a sustainable way. Through a versatile characterization techniques of FESEM, XRD, TES, XPS, and UV-vis spectrometer, the morphology, structure and surface properties of the well prepared Ag/AgBr/TNF multifunctional membrane was thoroughly studied to reveal the deep mechanism behind the high flux, high photocatalytic degradation and disinfection efficiency under visible light. It indicates that the Ag/AgBr/TNF multifunctional membrane exhibited better photocatalytic activity, higher water permeate flux, and higher disinfection abilities over commercial P25 membrane under visible light. Besides the deep mechanism elaborated, the key factors in terms of predominant oxidative species was also exploited in details. This further solidify the broad future of the developed multifunctional membrane. In view of the roaring demand of advanced water treatment and disinfection technology, it is reasonable to believe our developed visible light responsive Ag/AgBr/TNF multifunctional membrane will show great significances to a green and clean future.

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