Concurrent filtration and solar photocatalytic disinfection/degradation using high-performance Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane

• Main Authors: Liu, Lei, Liu, Zhaoyang, Bai, Hongwei, Sun, Darren Delai
• Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96244; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10258
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A facile polyol synthesis was used for the deposition of Ag nanoparticles on electrospun TiO2 nanofibers for the subsequent fabrication of Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane. The permeate flux of the Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane was remarkably high compared to commercial P25 deposited membrane. The Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane achieved 99.9% bacteria inactivation and 80.0% dye degradation under solar irradiation within 30 min. The Ag/TiO2 nanofiber membrane also showed excellent antibacterial capability without solar irradiation. Considering the excellent intrinsic antibacterial activity and high-performance photocatalytic disinfection/degradation under solar irradiation, this novel membrane proved to have promising applications in water purification industry.