Catalytic performance of polyvinylidene fluoride (Pvdf) supported tio2 additive at microwave conditions

Abstract

TiO2 is a widely used additive material to improve the properties of filtration membranes. As far as its contribution to filtration performance, TiO2 acts as a catalytic agent. In this study, the catalytic activity of TiO2 added PVDF flat sheets (membranes) prepared by the phase inversion method, and we tested them on the oxidation of benzyl alcohol at microwave irradiation. We investigated the structure, thermal behaviors, and morphology of samples by FTIR, TG-DTA, and SEM analysis, respectively. Contact angle measurements determined the hydrophilicity, and we observed the interaction between TiO2 and PVDF chain. TiO2-added PVDF membranes had improved filtration and rejection performance. 32.4% BSA rejection was obtained with composites while it was 7.5% for the pristine membrane. We obtained 93.86% conversion and 56% selectivity with composites in a microwave-assisted batch reactor. The decomposition of the polymer increased with a 6% additive due to the catalytic effect of TiO2 then, and it decreased with further loading. We obtained detailed evidence by activation energies (Ea) of decomposition calculated by Kissinger’s method. The microwave-assisted catalytic effect of TiO2 inside the polymeric matrix promise to obtain fast, high yielded, and disposable membrane materials for catalytic reactors to in-situ production of fine chemicals.