Non-solvent induced phase-inversion is one of the most used methods to fabricate membranes. However, there are only a few studies supported by statistical analysis on how the different fabrication conditions affect the formation and performance of membranes. In this paper, a central composite design was employed to analyze how different fabrication conditions affect the pure water flux, pore size, and photocatalytic activity of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used to form pores, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) to ensure the photocatalytic activity of the membranes. The studied bath temperatures (15 to 25 °C) and evaporation times (0 to 60 s) did not significantly affect the pore size and pure water flux of the membranes. The concentration of PVDF (12.5 to 17.5%) affected the viscosity, formation capability, and pore sizes. PVDF at high concentrations resulted in membranes with small pore sizes. PVP affected the pore size and should be used to a limited extent to avoid possible hole formation. TiO2 contents were responsible for the decolorization of a methyl orange solution (10-5 M) up to 90% over the period studied (30 h). A higher content of TiO2 did not increase the decolorization rate. Acidic conditions increased the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2-membranes.
Keywords: TiO2 nanoparticles; central composite design; photocatalytic membrane; polyvinylpyrrolidone; statistical analysis.