Hybrid processes coupling photocatalysis and membranes for degradation of organic pollutants in water

Abstract Tests of degradation in a photocatalytic membrane system with the lamp immersed in the suspension inside the photoreactor have been carried out by using polycrystalline TiO2 (Degussa P25) as catalyst and humic acids, organic dyes, 4-nitrophenol as pollutants. The influence of the type of nanofiltration membrane, initial concentration of pollutant and pH on the photodegradation rate was investigated in discontinuous and continuous configurations. Two membranes were tested, i.e. NF-PES-010 (Celgard, Germany) of polyethersulphone and NTR-7410 (Nitto-Denko, Japan) of sulphonated polyethersulphone. The last one was chosen for all of the photoreactivity experiments because permeability a…