Photocatalytic Membrane and Reactor for Environmental Remediation Processes

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Photocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 16225

Special Issue Editors

Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics and Systems (D.I.M.E.S.), Laboratory of Transport Phenomena and Biotechnology, University of Calabria, Cubo-39c, Via P. Bucci, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: Modeling, Simulation. ANN, Hybrid Model, Food Engineering, Membrane, Photocatalysis.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada
Interests: heterogeneous photocatalysis; H2 generation; CO2 reduction; nanostructures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The photo mineralization of organics by semiconductor photocatalysts is an area of intensive research. Ideally, the end products of these processes should be carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic mineral salts, which have a minimum environmental impact. Waste discharge from various industries is a major source of pollution and is increasing day by day. With stringent environmental regulations, it is necessary to remove the harmful component from the waste discharge before throwing it into the environment with sustainable technologies using low external conventional energy. In addition, as an example, to avoid the contamination of natural water bodies, pretreatment of municipal and industrial effluents is needed before their release into the environment described. Research oriented toward inorganic as well as organic photocatalysts, including plasmonics, is desirable to address the environmental issues, and new technologies, including membranes, are desirable for the final purification in industrial processes. Photocatalytic adsorption studies have also shown a good confirmation of this technology during the reaction at initial stages in porous support.

In this Special Issue different applications of photocatalytic reactors, including membranes, will be introduced.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Curcio
Dr. Sudip Chakraborty
Dr. Nhat Truong Nguyen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Photocatalysis
  • Membrane reactor environmental remediation pharmaceutical waste
  • Nanocatalyst
  • Plasmonics nanoparticle
  • Waste treatment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3241 KiB  
Article
Exploitation of Lignocellulose Fiber-Based Biotemplates to Improve the Performance of an Immobilized TiO2 Photocatalyst
by Zoilo Gonzalez, Joaquin Yus, Yessica Bravo, Antonio Javier Sanchez-Herencia and Begoña Ferrari
Catalysts 2021, 11(2), 156; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal11020156 - 23 Jan 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2449
Abstract
The performance of an immobilized photocatalyst has been successfully improved by colloidal processing of a heterostructure composed by TiO2 nanoparticles and lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) obtained from biomass residues. The incorporation of 4 wt.% of biotemplate to the formulation increased the degradation rate [...] Read more.
The performance of an immobilized photocatalyst has been successfully improved by colloidal processing of a heterostructure composed by TiO2 nanoparticles and lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) obtained from biomass residues. The incorporation of 4 wt.% of biotemplate to the formulation increased the degradation rate and reduced the operating time to remove the 100% of methyl orange of a liquid solution. The reaction rate constant (k = 0.29–0.45 h−1) of the prepared photocatalytic coatings (using commercial particles and templates obtained from natural-derived resources) are competitive with other pure TiO2 materials (no composites), which were prepared through more complex methodologies. The optimization stages of deposition and sintering processes allowed us to obtain homogeneous and crack-free microstructures with controlled thickness and mass values ranging from 3 to 12 µm and 0.9 to 5.6 mg, respectively. The variation of the microstructures was achieved by varying the amount of LCNF in the formulated suspensions. The versatility of the proposed methodology would allow for implementation over the internal surface of photocatalytic reactors or as a photocatalytic layer of their membranes. In addition, the processing strategy could be applied to immobilize other synthetized semiconductors with higher intrinsic photocatalysis properties. Full article
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Review

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22 pages, 2797 KiB  
Review
Catalytic Membrane Reactors: The Industrial Applications Perspective
by Catia Algieri, Gerardo Coppola, Debolina Mukherjee, Mahaad Issa Shammas, Vincenza Calabro, Stefano Curcio and Sudip Chakraborty
Catalysts 2021, 11(6), 691; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal11060691 - 29 May 2021
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 8446
Abstract
Catalytic membrane reactors have been widely used in different production industries around the world. Applying a catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) reduces waste generation from a cleaner process perspective and reduces energy consumption in line with the process intensification strategy. A CMR combines a [...] Read more.
Catalytic membrane reactors have been widely used in different production industries around the world. Applying a catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) reduces waste generation from a cleaner process perspective and reduces energy consumption in line with the process intensification strategy. A CMR combines a chemical or biochemical reaction with a membrane separation process in a single unit by improving the performance of the process in terms of conversion and selectivity. The core of the CMR is the membrane which can be polymeric or inorganic depending on the operating conditions of the catalytic process. Besides, the membrane can be inert or catalytically active. The number of studies devoted to applying CMR with higher membrane area per unit volume in multi-phase reactions remains very limited for both catalytic polymeric and inorganic membranes. The various bio-based catalytic membrane system is also used in a different commercial application. The opportunities and advantages offered by applying catalytic membrane reactors to multi-phase systems need to be further explored. In this review, the preparation and the application of inorganic membrane reactors in the different catalytic processes as water gas shift (WGS), Fisher Tropsch synthesis (FTS), selective CO oxidation (CO SeLox), and so on, have been discussed. Full article
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35 pages, 2919 KiB  
Review
Critical Issues and Guidelines to Improve the Performance of Photocatalytic Polymeric Membranes
by Marta Romay, Nazely Diban, Maria J. Rivero, Ane Urtiaga and Inmaculada Ortiz
Catalysts 2020, 10(5), 570; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal10050570 - 19 May 2020
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 4374
Abstract
Photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMR), with immobilized photocatalysts, play an important role in process intensification strategies; this approach offers a simple solution to the typical catalyst recovery problem of photocatalytic processes and, by simultaneous filtration and photocatalysis of the aqueous streams, facilitates clean water [...] Read more.
Photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMR), with immobilized photocatalysts, play an important role in process intensification strategies; this approach offers a simple solution to the typical catalyst recovery problem of photocatalytic processes and, by simultaneous filtration and photocatalysis of the aqueous streams, facilitates clean water production in a single unit. The synthesis of polymer photocatalytic membranes has been widely explored, while studies focused on ceramic photocatalytic membranes represent a minority. However, previous reports have identified that the successful synthesis of polymeric photocatalytic membranes still faces certain challenges that demand further research, e.g., (i) reduced photocatalytic activity, (ii) photocatalyst stability, and (iii) membrane aging, to achieve technological competitiveness with respect to suspended photocatalytic systems. The novelty of this review is to go a step further to preceding literature by first, critically analyzing the factors behind these major limitations and second, establishing useful guidelines. This information will help researchers in the field in the selection of the membrane materials and synthesis methodology for a better performance of polymeric photocatalytic membranes with targeted functionality; special attention is focused on factors affecting membrane aging and photocatalyst stability. Full article
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