A Membrane Modified with Nitrogen-Doped TiO₂/Graphene Oxide for Improved Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

An improved photocatalytic microfiltration membrane was successfully prepared by the impregnation method with nitrogen-doped TiO₂/graphene oxide (GO) (NTG). By utilizing the unique role of N and GO, the photocatalytic activity of the membrane in UV and sunlight was improved. Compared with the Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane which was modified by TiO₂, N-TiO₂ (NT) and TiO₂-GO (TG), the NTG/PVDF membrane exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency and significantly improved photodegradation power to the methylene blue (MB) solution under ultraviolet light and sunlight, with the photocatalytic efficiency reaching 86.5% and 80.6%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to analyze the morphology, crystal structure and chemical bonds of the membrane surface. The hydrophilicity of the modified PVDF microfiltration membrane was significantly improved, the flux of the pure water membrane reached 1672 Lm⁻²h⁻¹, the flux of the MB solution was also significantly improved due to photodegradation. Therefore, the nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide graphene oxide PVDF microfiltration membrane (NTG/PVDF membrane) has great development prospects in sustainable water treatment.