Nanocomposite PVDF/TiO2 Photocatalytic Membranes for Micropollutant Removal in Secondary Effluent

In this study, a mixed-matrix method was used to prepare PVDF polymeric membranes with different amounts of TiO2 P25 photocatalyst embedded, which were employed in filtration processes in the presence of UV radiation (LED, peak emission at 375 nm) to eliminate two aqueous micropollutants (MPs) used as model compounds (venlafaxine and metoprolol). The obtained membranes were characterized to gain insights into their texture, morphology, composition, and other catalyst-related properties that could affect the photocatalytic filtration process. For that purpose, N2 adsorption–desorption, contact angle, SEM-EDX, thermal analysis, FTIR, XPS, UV-vis DRS, and PL spectroscopy were used. Filtration tests were carried out in continuous mode using a dead-end filtration cell to evaluate the performance of the prepared membranes in removing the selected MPs. Experiments were performed both in ultrapure water and a secondary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. It was found that the synthesized membranes could effectively remove the target MPs in ultrapure water, achieving up to 99% elimination. Such process performance decreased drastically in the secondary effluent with removals below 35%. Carbonate/bicarbonate ions in the secondary effluent were identified as the main scavenging substances. Thus, after the partial removal of carbonate/bicarbonate ions from the secondary effluent, the removal of MPs achieved was above 60%.