Development of photocatalytic poly(vinylidenefluoride-trifluoroethylene)/TiO₂ porous membranes

Abstract

Photocatalysis has become an attractive process to remove contaminants from aquatic environments1. Photocatalysis consists on the use of solar light to generate highly oxidizing species, most often the hydroxyl radical (•OH), to destroy harmful compounds 2. Catalysts are required in this process and, due to its significant oxidizing properties under UV irradiation, TiO2 is the most widely used photocatalyst [ref?=6]. One disadvantage of the UV/photocatalyst process is the fast recombination rate of the electron-hole pairs3. Doping the photocatalysts with other elements is an effective approach to overcome this problem[ref]. Nevertheless, one of the largest drawbacks of the use of photocatalyst particles is the recycling and reutilization of the nanoparticles, which is time consuming and requires expensive processes2. In order to overcome this drawback, TiO2 immobilization in several substrates (e.g. glass, zeolite, silica and ceramic) has been explored. This work reports the optimization and photocatalytic activity of poly(vinylidenefluoride - trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE)/TiO2 nanocomposites.