Kinetics and Mechanism of the Degradation of Organic Compounds in Aqueous Solution Using α-MnO2/UiO-66-NO2/TFC-PA Catalytic Membrane

In this research, the α-MnO2/UiO-66-NO2/TFC-PA photocatalytic membrane was successfully fabricatedy immobilizing α-MnO2/UiO-66-NO2 catalyst onto the outer most surface of a thin film composite polyamide (TFC-PA) membrane via the interfacical polymerization process. The resulting membrane was characterized using techniques such as UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption (BET). The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under the visible light irradiation, with a maximum removal efficiency reaching 95%. Kinetics studies revealed that the degradation process followed a pseudo-first-order model. Mechanism investigation exhibited that the superoxide radical •O2- played a dominant role in the photocatalytic process.