The morphological properties study of photocatalytic TiO2/PVDF dual layer hollow fiber membrane for endocrine disrupting compounds degradation

Abstract

Various Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) either natural or synthetics have been identified including bisphenol A (BPA), dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). These compounds which present widely in the product of solvent industry, agricultural, pharmaceuticals and household convenience may directly or indirectly interrupt the normal function of endocrine system. Recently, the EDCs threats to human health have led to the increasing demand of clean water sources which excites a challenge for the contaminants removal processes. Conventional treatment methods may not completely remove the contaminants, meanwhile advanced oxidation process (AOPs) especially photocatalysis have been proven efficient in removing the contaminants. Even though photocatalysis is efficient in suspension of either nano-or microscale, the immobilizing TiO2 in the membrane matrix for catalyst separation purposes have decreased the adsorption of organic substances on the TiO2 surface with potential loss of TiO2 during long-time usage. This lead to the emerging in the exploration and fabrication of dual layer hollow fiber (DLHF) membrane for better performance of immobilized TiO2. Therefore, we exploit this fact to investigate the incorporation of photocatalysis into dual-layer hollow fiber membrane which are believed may improve the photocatalytic degradation and separation efficiency. The FESEM results showed that both layers are compatible with each other and there are no delamination found between layers. The presence of outer layer does not influence the surface roughness; however improve the hydrophilicity and membrane strength. Altogether, photocatalytic dual layer hollow fiber (DLHF) membrane was successfully fabricated using co-extrusion technique.