Synthesis and Characterization of g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2/PVDF Membrane with Remarkable Self-Cleaning Properties for Rhodamine B Removal

Abstract

g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2 nanocomposite materials were loaded onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane using a phase inversion method to obtain a photocatalytic flat membrane for dye removal. The morphology, structure, and photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2 nanoparticles and composite membrane were evaluated. The g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2/PVDF membrane exhibited superior morphology, hydrophilic properties, and antifouling performance compared with the raw PVDF membrane. Four-stage filtration was performed to evaluate the self-cleaning and antifouling capacity of the g-C3N4/Ag3PO4/TiO2/PVDF membrane. Upon irradiating the composite membrane with visible light for 30 min, its irreversible fouling resistance (Rir) was low (9%), and its flux recovery rate (FRR) was high (71.0%) after five filtration cycles. The removal rate of rhodamine B (RhB) from the composite membrane under visible light irradiation reached 98.1% owing to the high photocatalytic activity of the membrane, which was superior to that of raw PVDF membrane (42.5%). A mechanism of photocatalytic composite membranes for RhB degradation was proposed. Therefore, this study is expected to broaden prospects in the field of membrane filtration technology.