novel cellulose acetate (CA) membrane using TiO₂ nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization and permeation study

CA/TiO₂ hybrid membranes were prepared via phase inversion by dispersing TiO₂ nanopaticles in the CA casting solutions. TiO₂ nanoparticles, which were synthesized by the sonochemical method, were added into the casting solution in different concentrations. The influence of TiO₂ on the morphology and thermal stability of the CA/TiO₂ membranes were investigated through the methods of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Permeation performance of the prepared membranes was evaluated in terms of pure water flux (PWF) and water content (WC). SEM results show that addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles cause that the hybrid membrane becomes more porous because of increasing in the mean pore size. TGA results show that the interaction exists between the TiO₂ nanopaticles and CA. Also the thermal stability of the hybrid membrane was improved by the addition of TiO₂ nanopaticles. The membranes PWF shows that addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles leads to the water permeation increase.