Abstract:
Solar photocatalytic membranes (polyester membranes coated with TiO2-ZnO co-doped photocatalyst) were synthesized using aqueous heat attachment method. The membranes were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to determine the morphology, composition, and crystal structure, respectively. The raw water was characterized to determine physicochemical and microbial properties. The membranes were used to treat synthetic water feed with E. coli and real water from Kesses Dam. The SEM images and EDX analysis showed the morphology and composition of membranes were TiO2-ZnO co-doped photocatalytic polyester/cotton. The XRD revealed the characteristic peaks of TiO2-ZnO plus membrane peaks. The coated membranes achieved an E. coli removal efficiency of 99.998%, with a log reduction of 4.6, for an initial concentration of 12 * 104 CFU/100 ml. The uncoated membranes achieved only 64.6% removal efficiency and a log reduction of 0.45. Additionally, the coated membranes reduced the turbidity of raw water from 16NTU to 0.7NTU, whereas uncoated membranes reduced turbidity to 4NTU. The coated membranes treated the raw water and attained the World Health Organization guidelines in terms of turbidity and E. coli. The study provides valuable insights into the development of solar-driven, photocatalytic membranes for point-of-use water treatment.