Antifouling CuO@TiO2 coating on plasma-grafted PAA/PES membrane based on photocatalysis and hydrogen peroxide activation.

Because of the small size effect leading to the high bandgap of TiO₂ P25, the photocatalytic membrane using this photocatalyst has low antifouling efficiency. This study prepared CuO@TiO₂ composite photocatalyst with a lower bandgap than TiO₂ P25 and used it as antifouling coatings on the PES membrane with PAA intermediate adhesive layer. PAA was grafted onto the surface of the PES membranes through free radicals generated by the cold plasma treatment of the PES membrane. The composite photocatalysts were characterized by FTIR, SEM–EDS, TEM-EDS, XRD, BET, UV–Vis DRS, XPS, and ESR methods demonstrating high surface area (51.0 m²/g), decreased bandgap, and the formation of active free radicals under UV light irradiation. Under photocatalysis and hydrogen peroxide activation, the degradation of AB260 (acid blue 260) catalyzed by 10%CuO@TiO₂ reached about 92% after 60 min. Besides, the photocatalytic and antifouling activities of CuO@TiO₂/PAA/PES membranes are high and stable over five continuous cycles. The water flux of the modified membrane was not significantly influenced and only decreased about 10% compared to the pristine membrane. In addition, the flux recovery ratios (FRR) of fouled membranes treated by photocatalysis were almost 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]