Fabrication of electrospun polyethersulfone/titanium dioxide (PES/TiO2) composite nanofibers membrane and its application for photocatalytic degradation of phenol in aqueous solution

The main objective of this research is to use the photocatalytic properties of PES/TiO2 nanofibers membranes to remove the phenol as a toxic pollutant in various effluents. The uniform fibers in terms of minimum bead formation and fibers diameter were fabricated. Therefore, more TiO2 catalysts are on the surface of the fibers which increase the active surface area of nanoparticles and consequently improve the phenol degradation efficiency. The effects of TiO2 concentration on hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, porosity, mean pore size, and water flux of membranes were studied. The PES/TiO2 nanofibers were evaluated for phenol degradation under UVA irradiation through a transparent membrane module. The amount of removable phenol was analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography. Central composite design was used as a statistical experimental design. Finally, the effect of TiO2 content in nanofibers and initial phenol concentrations were investigated as well as pH values in synthetic wastewater, on phenol degradation. The results from analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis indicated that TiO2 content in nanofibers was the most important and effective parameter on phenol degradation. It was also presented that there is no significant interaction between parameters so that the effect of each parameter was investigated separately. Maximum phenol degradation was 43.0 +/- 0.3% and found under conditions of TiO2 content, initial phenol concentration, and pH value of 8%, 120 ppm, and 7, respectively.