Evaluation of Nanostructured Titania Ultrafiltration Membrane for Separation and Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

In the present work, the nanostructured titania ultrafiltration membrane with photocatalytic and physical separation capabilities was synthesized for methyl orange removal of aqueous solution. Thus, a polymeric titania sol was deposited and calcined on the colloidal titania-coated alumina substrates. The properties of samples were investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission electron microscopy (FESEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. Photocatalytic activity of titania membrane was investigated by photodegradation of methyl orange in the presence of UVradiation. Also, physical separation of methyl orange was obtained by determination of the solution concentration changes after passing of titania membrane. Based on photocatalytic degradation, the removal efficiency of methyl orange was determined to be 61% that by coupling separation technique, it was improved to 83%.