Photo responsive single layer MoS2 nanochannel membranes for photocatalytic degradation of contaminants in water

Abstract

Abstract The major polluting aspects of our global fashion industries are the textile wastewater that turns black all our freshwater reservoirs. Nano-filtration through membrane technology is one of the biggest solutions of industrial wastewater treatment but the fouling of membrane is the major limitation of previous work. In this research, novel PVDF/MoS2-TNT (PMT) nanocomposite membranes were fabricated through a modified In-situ polymerisation phase inversion method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis also confirmed the β-phase of PVDF within the developed PVDF/MoS2-TNT membrane. XPS analysis provides evidence about the presence of a specific chemical states of titanium nanotube and molybdenum disulphide which is involved in the photocatalytic degradation of pollutant molecules. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows that our membranes are porous in nature. PVDF/MoS2-TNT membranes exhibit excellent filtration efficiency (∼97%) for textile wastewater. The results and outcomes of the research demonstrate that PMT membranes have enormous potential in the commercial application of textile wastewater treatment.