Factors affecting the degradation of remazol turquoise blue (RTB) dye by titanium dioxide (TiO2) entrapped photocatalytic membrane

This study investigated the photocatalytic degradation of remazol turquoise blue (RTB) dye using titanium dioxide (TiO2) entrapped polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane synthesized by non-solvent induced phase separation method. Numerous experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of catalyst loading in membranes, the concentration of dye, feed temperature, pH of the solution, and the addition of H2O2 to the dye solution on the removal of dye. Results were compared with the performance of virgin PVDF and modified PVDF/TiO2 membranes. The experimental results indicated that the optimum TiO2 loading in the membrane was 2 wt%, which enhanced the membrane morphology, permeability, and dye removal performance. The rate of photocatalytic degradation dropped with the increase in dye concentration. The photocatalytic efficiency of the membrane depends on the pH and the temperature of the solution.