Stable Ion Beam Analysis (RBS and PIXE) Study of Photocatalytic Track-Etched Membranes
Work performed with partial support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the State contract No. 14.513.11.0063, in collaboration with Stellenbosch University, University of the Western Cape, NRF, JINR and iThemba Labs.
In microfiltration, caking is a major problem. Organic molecules get absorbed on the track-etched membrane TM surface during water purification. This leads to a loss of efficiency and changes in TM selectivity. A solution devised to solve this problem is the creation of self-cleaning, low-absorptive TM coatings. The TM surface was modified by depositing a thin-film photocatalytic semiconductor, titanium dioxide (TiO2). Strong oxidizing agents appear on the TiO2 surface in the presence of water, dissolved oxygen and UV irradiation. This results in the mineralization of the organic compounds present, By applying the use of exotic beams in the material research, it becomes possible to investigate properties regarding the layer thickness, homogeneity and purity of the modified TMs, not otherwise attainable.
