• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.393-403
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• 2018

In this research commercial polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was modified using $TiO_2$ nanoparticles (P-25 Degussa) and further irradiated using UV light to overcome the hydrophobicity and fouling nature of the membrane. Further the membranes were characterized using SEM and FTIR. Contact angle measurements study confirmed the hydrophilic tendency of the modified membrane by decreasing the contact angle from $73^{\circ}$ to $20.28^{\circ}$. The modified membranes showed higher flux and better anti-fouling properties as compared to the unmodified counterparts. The optimum conditions were found to be 0.5 wt% $TiO_2$ loading with 60 min membrane immersion and 10 min UV light illumination. The effect of different pH conditions of feed was analysed. Real wastewater filtration experiments also indicated better performance of modified membranes as opposed to neat PES membranes.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.131-133
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• 2000

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.271-275
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• 2019

Anodic $TiO_2$ nanotubes were simultaneously grown and doped with $RuO_2$ by single-step anodization in a negatively-charged $RuO_4{^-}$ precursor. Subsequently, a high positive voltage was imposed on the nanotubes in an $F^-$-based electrolyte (a process referred to as potential shock), which led to the formation of a through-hole $RuO_2$-doped $TiO_2$ nanotube membrane without significant loss of the $RuO_2$ catalyst. XPS results confirmed that the doped Ru metal was converted into $RuO_2$ as the potential shock voltage increased. Further increases in the potential shock voltage led to the formation of $RuO_x/Ru$ in the $TiO_2$ nanotubes. All of our results clearly showed that a through-hole catalyst-doped $TiO_2$ nanotube membrane can be produced by a sequence consisting of single-step anodization and the potential shock process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.326-331
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• 2012

In this study, rejection behavior of 2-MIB (methylisoborneal) and geosmin which are known as taste-and-odor (T & O) causing micropollutants in drinking water source was investigated using hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES) nanofiltration "loose" membrane (MWCO : 400 Da). It was found that the rejection of the geosmin was higher than that of the 2-MIB in all experimental conditions tested. This study also showed that the rejections of 2-MIB and geosmin were increased by increasing solution pH due to enhancing electrostatic repulsions between micropollutants and membrane surface. The presence of natural organic matter led to increase the rejection of the hydrophobic 2-MIB and geosmin and the effectiveness was more pronounced at higher solution pH. Increasing hydrophilicity of the hydrophobic membrane surface by coating with $TiO_2$ particles resulted in the significant increase in the rejection of 2-MIB and geosmin. In addition to the charge repulsion, this result suggests that hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction should be one of main rejection mechanisms of T & O compounds by NF membrane.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.484.2-484.2
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• 2014

There are many efforts to improving the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Although DSCs have a low production cost, their low PCE and low thermal stability have limited commercial applications. This study describes the preparation of a novel multifunctional polymer gel electrolyte in which a cross-linking polymerization reaction is used to encapsulate $TiO_2$ nanoparticles toward improving the power conversion efficiency and long-term stability of a quasi-solid state DSC. A series of liquid junction dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) was fabricated based on polymer membrane encapsulated dye-sensitized $TiO_2$ nanoparticles, prepared using a surface-induced cross-linking polymerization reaction, to investigate the dependence of the solar cell performance on the encapsulating membrane layer thickness. The ion conductivity decreased as the membrane thickness increased; however, the long term-stability of the devices improved with increasing membrane thickness. Nanoparticles encapsulated in a thick membrane (ca. 37 nm), obtained using a 90 min polymerization time, exhibited excellent pore filling among $TiO_2$ particles. This nanoparticle layer was used to fabricate a thin-layered, quasi-solid state DSC. The thick membrane prevented short-circuit paths from forming between the counter and the $TiO_2$ electrode, thereby reducing the minimum necessary electrode separation distance. The quasi-solid state DSC yielded a high power conversion efficiency (7.6/8.1%) and excellent stability during heating at $65^{\circ}C$ over 30 days. These performance characteristics were superior to those obtained from a conventional DSC (7.5/3.5%) prepared using a $TiO_2$ active layer with the same thickness. The reduced electrode separation distance shortened the charge transport pathways, which compensated for the reduced ion conductivity in the polymer gel electrolyte. Excellent pore filling on the $TiO_2$ particles minimized the exposure of the dye to the liquid and reduced dye detachment.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2011

[ $ZrO_2-TiO_2$ ]binary oxides with various Zr:Ti molar ratios were prepared by sol-gel method and Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were fabricated for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at high temperature and low humidity. Water uptake, Ion exchange capacity (IEC), and proton conductivity of Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were characterized and these composite membranes were tested in a single cell at $120^{\circ}C$ with various relative humidity (R.H.) conditions. The obtained results were compared with the unmodified membranes (Nafion$^{(R)}$ 112 and Recast Nafion$^{(R)}$). A Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membrane with 1:3 of Zr:Ti molar ratio showed the highest performance. The performance showed 500 mW/$cm^2$ (0.499V) at $120^{\circ}C$, 50% R. H., and 2 atm.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.67
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• pp.199-209
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• 2018

Polyethersulfone (PES)/sulfonated $TiO_2$ ($STiO_2$) nanoparticles (NPs) UF blended membranes were fabricated with different loadings of $STiO_2$. The modified membranes exhibited significant improvement in surface roughness, porosity, and pore size when compared to the PES membrane. The $P-STiO_2$ 1 and $P-TiO_2$ 1 blended membranes exhibited higher water flux, approximately 102.4% and 62.6%, respectively, compared to PES. SPP-$STiO_2$ and $P-STiO_2$ showed lower Rir fouling resistance than the $P-TiO_2$ blended membrane. Overall, the $STiO_2$-blended membranes provide high hydrophilicity permeability, anti-fouling performance, and improved BSA rejection attributed to the hydrogen bonding force and more electrostatic repulsion properties of $STiO_2$.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.398-405
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• 2015

Facilitated transport is considered to be a possible solution to simultaneously improve permeability and selectivity, which is challenging in normal polymeric membranes based on solution-diffusion transport only. We investigated the effect of adding mesoporous $TiO_2$ ($m-TiO_2$) upon the separation performance of facilitated olefin transport membranes comprising poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), Ag nanoparticles, and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane as the polymer matrix, olefin carrier, and electron acceptor, respectively. In particular, $m-TiO_2$ was prepared by means of a facile, mass-producible method using poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) graft copolymer as the template. The crystal phase of $m-TiO_2$ consisted of an anatase/rutile mixture, of crystallite size approximately 16 nm as determined by X-ray diffraction. The introduction of $m-TiO_2$ increased the membrane diffusivity, thereby increasing the mixed-gas permeance from 1.6 to 16.0 GPU ($1GPU=10^{-6}cm^3$(STP)/($s{\times}cm^2{\times}cmHg$), and slightly decreased the propylene/propane selectivity from 45 to 37. However, both the mixed-gas permeance and selectivity of the membrane containing $m-TiO_2$ rapidly decreased over time, whereas the membrane without $m-TiO_2$ had more stable long-term performance. This difference might be attributed to specific chemical interactions between $TiO_2$ and Ag nanoparticles, causing Ag to lose activity as an olefin carrier.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2020

Polymer/inorganic composites were used as a protective layer of lihitum metal electrode for effective suppression of lithium dendrite. PVDF-HFP was used as an polymer material and TiO₂ nanoparticle was used as an inorganic material. PVDF-HFP is a highly flexible polymer that acts as a matrix of inorganic materials while TiO₂ nanoparticle improves the mechanical strength and ion conductivity of the protective layer. The as-synthesized protective hybrid membrane exhibited good dispersion of TiO₂ in the PVDF-HFP matrix by SEM, AFM and XRD analyses. Furthermore, the electrochemical analysis showed that the polymer-inorganic composite retained high coulombic efficiency of 80% and low overpotential, less than 20 mV until the 100^th cycles due to the improved mechanical properties and ion conductivity in comparison to the control sample (untreated and PVDF-HFP polymers/Cu).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 1992

Alumina supports for TiO2 ultrafiltration membrane coating were prepared by presintering disk-type preforms at 140$0^{\circ}C$. These supports showed uniform microstructures which had the apparent porosity of 40%, the pore size distribution in the range of 0.1~0.5${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, and the water flux of 1400ι/$m^2$.h at the pressure difference of 10 atm. The optimum pH and concentration of the TiO2 sol for coating were 0.8 and 1.0 wt%, respectively, and sol particles were identified as rutile forms of 20 nm size. Crack-free alumina-supported rutile TiO2 membranes could be prepared through well controlled drying and heating the gel layer coated by the sol-gel dipping. The pore size of the TiO2 membranes heat-treated at 50$0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hrs was 30~80$\AA$, and their thickness varied from 1.1 to 3.8 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in accordence with the dipping time (4~40 min). The flux of water through this composite membrane at 10 atm was found to be in the range from 800 to 1100ι/$m^2$.hr depending on the dipping time (10~40 min). The membrane thickness increased linearly with the square root of the dipping time and the slope was 0.62 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/{{{{ SQRT { min} }}.