Polyurethane nanofibrous membranes decorated with reduced graphene oxide-TiO2 for photocatalytic templates in water purification

摘要

We hereby report a reduced graphene oxide-titanium dioxide (rGO-TiO2)-loaded polyurethane (PU) nanofibrous membrane having visible-light-responsive photocatalytic activity and antifouling property. The functionality is significantly augmented by the hybridization of rGO-TiO2 with nanofibrous membrane. This results in a synergistic combination of high surface area of nanofiber and unique photocatalytic activity of rGO-TiO2. 10 wt% rGO-TiO2-loaded membrane showed an average fiber diameter of 271.83 +/- 11.38 nm. Both the thermal stability and mechanical stability of the membrane increase after rGO-TiO2 loading. The optimized PU/10rGO-TiO2 membrane exhibited a water flux of 12810 +/- 49.65 Lm(-2) h(-1), oil rejection of 85.50%, and flux recovery ratio of 88.10%. Theoretical evaluation of fouling model suggests that all the membranes follow cake filtration model. The photocatalytic activity of nanofibrous membrane increases with an increase in rGO-TiO2 concentration in the membrane, and PU/10rGO-TiO2 nanofibrous membrane showed 95% of degradation against methylene blue dye. Thus, the prepared membrane can be suggested for an ideal candidate for antifouling and photocatalytic templates in water filtration systems.