Synthesis and Characterization of g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2/PVDF Membrane with Remarkable Self-Cleaning Properties for Rhodamine B Removal

Renguo Liu; Xue Li; Jinhui Huang; Haoliang Pang; Qiongfang Wan; Kun Luo; Ya Pang; Lingyu Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph192315551

Synthesis and Characterization of g-C₃N₄/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂/PVDF Membrane with Remarkable Self-Cleaning Properties for Rhodamine B Removal

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 23;19(23):15551. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192315551.

Authors

Renguo Liu¹, Xue Li¹, Jinhui Huang², Haoliang Pang², Qiongfang Wan², Kun Luo¹, Ya Pang¹, Lingyu Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Hunan Key Laboratory of Applied Environmental Photocatalysis, Changsha University, Changsha 410022, China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.

Abstract

g-C₃N₄/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂ nanocomposite materials were loaded onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane using a phase inversion method to obtain a photocatalytic flat membrane for dye removal. The morphology, structure, and photocatalytic activity of the g-C₃N₄/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂ nanoparticles and composite membrane were evaluated. The g-C₃N₄/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂/PVDF membrane exhibited superior morphology, hydrophilic properties, and antifouling performance compared with the raw PVDF membrane. Four-stage filtration was performed to evaluate the self-cleaning and antifouling capacity of the g-C₃N₄/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂/PVDF membrane. Upon irradiating the composite membrane with visible light for 30 min, its irreversible fouling resistance (Rir) was low (9%), and its flux recovery rate (FRR) was high (71.0%) after five filtration cycles. The removal rate of rhodamine B (RhB) from the composite membrane under visible light irradiation reached 98.1% owing to the high photocatalytic activity of the membrane, which was superior to that of raw PVDF membrane (42.5%). A mechanism of photocatalytic composite membranes for RhB degradation was proposed. Therefore, this study is expected to broaden prospects in the field of membrane filtration technology.

Keywords: dye; g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2 nanocomposite; membrane fouling; photocatalytic membrane; self-cleaning.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Polyvinyls* / chemistry
Rhodamines

Substances

polyvinylidene fluoride
rhodamine B
Polyvinyls
Rhodamines

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51308076, 52000013); Natural Science Foundation of Hunan of China (2020JJ4643, 2022JJ30634); and Innovative Province Construction Special Fund of Hunan province (2020SK2016).