Performance investigation on GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membrane for slightly polluted ground water treatment

In this paper, GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membranes were prepared for slightly polluted ground water treatment with high efficiency and low energy consumption. The TiO2 nanoparticles solidly loaded on GO reduced the agglomeration between GO sheets, and the grafting of GO-TiO2 nanocomposites by polyethylene glycol (PEG), partially grafted onto the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles, prevented the agglomeration between TiO2 nanoparticles. GO-TiO2 was used as an additive to prepare GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membrane by non-solvent induced precipitation phase separation method, and the fouling resistance and hydrophilicity of the membrane were improved. The structure and morphology of the composite ultrafiltration membranes were characterized using FTIR, SEM and contact angle testers, and the water flux and fouling resistance of the composite ultrafiltration membranes were evaluated using the ultrafiltration method, and investigate the effectiveness of the composite ultrafiltration membranes in treating slightly polluted ground water. The 0.05% GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membrane has better hydrophilicity and fouling resistance, with a pure water flux of 280.3 L/(m2·h), 2.1 times higher than that of the PVDF membrane. In an experiment using GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membrane to filter campus lake water, the removal rates of COD, DOC and aromatic compounds (UV254) were increased by 15.8%, 54.2% and 55.4% respectively compared to using PVDF membrane, and the GO-TiO2/PVDF composite ultrafiltration membrane has excellent filtration effect for slightly polluted ground water.