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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This work presents a ceramic tubular membrane coated with a continuous graphene-TiO2 nanocomposite thinfilm
for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) removal from synthetic and real matrices in single-pass
flow-through operation. Microfiltration ceramic membranes were coated in situ with graphene (G)-TiO2-P25
nano-composite using two different methods: Membrane type A - TiO2-P25 incorporated in the G preparation
stage (1% [MA-1], 2% [MA-2] and 3% [MA-3] [w/v]), and Membrane type B - TiO2-P25 thin-film uniformly
coated over the G film surface (coating layers: 3 [MB-1], 6 [MB-2], and 9 [MB-3]). After the catalyst deposition
and before the pyrolysis step, air was forced to pass through the membranes pores (inside-outside mode),
providing a porous film. The CECs solution (diclofenac-DCF, 17β-estradiol-E2, 17α-ethinylestradiol-EE2 and
amoxicillin-AMX) was prepared using Ultrapure water (UPW) or an urban wastewater after secondary treatment
(UWW) fortified with 500 μg L 1 of each CEC. Membranes were characterized by the following techniques:
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR), Diffuse Reflectance UV-Visible spectroscopy (DR UV-Vis) and Raman spectroscopy. The membranes
coated with MA-3 and MB-2 catalyst films, irradiated by UVA light, showed the highest ability for CECs removal.
Furthermore, the Relative flux reduction ratio (RFR) decreased around 45% in the absence of UVA light, owing to membrane fouling. The combination of filtration and oxidation (G-TiO2-UVA) provided a permeate with higher quality and minimized membrane fouling. Although membrane type B allowed for a permeate with higher
quality, membrane type A provided a higher permeate flux.
Description
Keywords
Photocatalytic membrane reactor Nano-engineered membrane Membrane fouling Continuous photocatalytic thin-film Contaminants of emerging concern
Citation
Presumido, Pedro H.; Santos, Lucrécio F. dos; Neuparth, Teresa; Santos, Miguel M.; Feliciano, Manuel; Primo, Ana; Garcia, Hermenegildo; B- Đolić, Maja; Vilar, Vítor J.P. (2022). A novel ceramic tubular membrane coated with a continuous graphene-TiO2 nanocomposite thin-film for CECs mitigation. Chemical Engineering Journal. ISSN 1385-8947. 430, p. 1-14